Juuchan: You're the first one that's said anything about it. XD Thanks for telling me!
Ren F and Spirit of Darkness: Glad you like this!
Lady Alexiel: Here's your update! Your name sounds familiar...
Lady Elbereth Tealrose: So true.... XD Poor Hao and Yoh. They never get off easy in my fics.
strife-lover: I actually just killed them to add to the drama of this fic... I'm sure I made some people angry, though.
Chibi Atariel Tsukai: No. I don't think Those other characters will even be in here...
Keeper of Yoh: Yes they are. ;.;
Seito: I think they're that good... XD Here's your update! (Ehehe... I'm just afraid I'm missing something from your other one-shots, that's all...)
haolover9312: I have a lot of other fics to update, you know? But, thanks for reviewing.

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Chapter 3

Asakura Hao had finally done it.

He had tamed his own spirit--finally gaining the power he needed to protect both him and Yoh.

Spirit of Fire...

He stared at the burning ashes that it left behind, slowly smirking. This was perfect--it seemed strong enough to fight against the X-Laws, and, perhaps kill some of the members.

After all--it was a hunt, or be hunted situation.

However... how he came to acquire and tame this mighty spirit is another story.

The creature starred down hungrily at the Hao, growling in a low tone--it was a signal that he needed souls.

That's what Hao had found out--that Spirit of Fire had to eat souls in order to grow stronger--or, should we say; told him? After all; the two had a strong bond already.

Although Hao didn't like the idea of both killing and fighting, he had to do this.

He sighed and smiled slightly--jumping on top of the spirit of ease. "Let's go home, ok, Spirit of Fire?"

The spirit merely bowed its head in response, as if nodding.

It took flight then, never looking back at the remains of what it had destroyed.

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Dark eyes fluttered open in both confusion and wariness--looking around the room weakly.

Where am I...?

The room was small, yes, but, it offered some comfort to him. It... reminded him of his home, almost. The nature-based theme; the small cozy bed.

But, it was empty. Where was everyone...?

And his sister?

Pirika...

At that, he sprung up. Where is she?!

Yes, he remembered what happened--although it was albeit blurry to him. He remembered that a strange group of men had attacked him. He remembered the strange girl who had leaded them to the attack.

He remembered his sister jumping into the fire--getting hurt instead of him.

"I see that you've finally awoken."

He looked around--his eyes meeting a boy standing at the doorway of this room--one not too older than him, in fact. Except--this boy wasn't Japanese. He had come from another country.

He frowned deeply; feeling overwhelmed by everything that was happening to him. "Where's my sister?" His hands clenched around his blanket.

If anything happened to her... he wouldn't know what to do. She was his only family left. The rest, in fact, were still in Hokkaido.

Ren shook his head, sitting at the edge of his bed--his back turned to him. "I see you don't waste any time." He muttered--he had just saved this stranger's life... and his only concern was his sister?

Besides... it's not like he wanted to break the news to him. God only knew that he had gone through the loss of a family member before; what to do if he had to see another person go through this pain?

HoroHoro's frown only deepened, grabbing Ren's shoulder to turn him around. "Where is she?" His tone was serious--something not heard from him that often. His heartbeat quickened--why wasn't he answering him?

The Chinese boy slapped his hand away from his shoulder, standing. "Dead." He glanced at HoroHoro. "Don't bother looking for her body, though. I left it with the rest of the ruins. I doubt that it's safe to go back there, anyways. The X-Laws will be looking for you. If they find you, they'll kill you." He shrugged, his tone and facial expressions indifferent. "I left it where it was." He walked out of the room, but, stopped once more.

"I suggest you rest. I know that this isn't easy to deal with."

And with that--he left, closing the door behind him.

He didn't want to see the other's reaction.

It didn't matter to him, either.

He'll have to learn to toughen up.

Now that he's being hunted, he has no other option.

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Yoh ran happily with Hao. "Onii-chan! Hurry up!" He giggled to himself.

His older brother did as told--running to as he smiled happily. "Yes, yes." He shook his head.

Right now--there mind was off of any of the X-Laws, or people who might be looking for them now.

For the first time in a while--Hao had finally agreed to play with Yoh. To him, they had nothing to worry about, anyways. Not with Spirit of Fire.

They'd be able to live there life normally.

Yoh grinned. "We're almost there!" He pointed to a nearby park. "Come on!" This was what Yoh loved doing with his brother--just spending time with him. This time... though... was more exciting for the young boy. Since they had left their home; Hao hadn't felt like doing much of anything with Yoh. Instead--he was out often, always leaving him behind.

And leaving Yoh heartbroken and lonely.

This, of course, had made up for all of that.

"I know!" Hao laughed, too. Just like Yoh--Hao loved doing things like this with him. It helped him forget about the horrible things that had happened to them in the past.

Yoh, continued to run--his pace only quickening as he continued to laugh.

He, however, didn't notice the rock that he soon tripped over, falling onto the ground.

"O-Ow..." He whimpered, slowly sitting as he sniffed. "My leg..."

"Yoh...?" Hao stopped, kneeling down beside him. "You alright? You're not hurt, are you?" He reached for his leg.

"It really hurts, Hao..." Yoh's eyes filled with tears--sniffing as he looked at his leg. It really didn't hurt that much, but, to Yoh--he had never exactly experienced that much pain before.

His older brother slowly smiled, reaching for Yoh's hand. "Come on." He offered to help Yoh up. "We'll go sit down for a while, ok?"

The five-year old slowly nodded, still sniffing as he took Hao's hand into his own. "A-Alright." He slowly stood--with his brother's help, of course.

He noticed after that, his brother's expression had changed--looking ahead of them. "Onii-chan?" He blinked. "What's wrong?" His glance followed the direction of Hao's; only to meet the stares of a group of other strangers.

His eyes widened. "H-Hao? Who are they?"

Hao didn't look at Yoh. "Go hide, Otouto."

"But..." Yoh bit his bottom lip. He didn't want to leave his brother's side.

The other sighed before offering him a smile, finally looking down at him. "Everything will be alright. Just... go hide, ok?" I don't want you to get hurt...

The other than nodded, sending the X-Laws one more glance before running.

However--he did not leave the park.

He wouldn't leave--not until he knew what was happening.

Iron Maiden Jeanne slowly smiled. "You're protecting your younger brother and sacrificing yourself for him? How generous of you." She shot him a serene look. "However, this doesn't mean that God will have pity on your souls. We will track him down when we're done with you."

Hao sent her a glare, hissing sharply under his breath as he snapped his fingers--the fiery spirit appearing. "You won't lay a finger on him; not while I'm here to protect him." He was ready to give up his life--if only to get rid of the X-Laws.

Marco frowned deeply at him before starring at the Spirit. "Jeanne-sama." He whispered. "Denbat and Meene can both deal with this spirit. It seems weak."

Jeanne slowly nodded. "This sinner deserves nothing else but to be punished by those two." She began to turn. "Meene. Denbat. Stay here, please. We must find the other Asakura sibling."

The others nodded, frowning deeply--their eyes hinting both confidence and fear. Sure, they believed they could take this spirit on... then again... who knew? They had never faced a spirit such as this one before--just... small ones. "Yes, Jeanne-sama." They both nodded, aiming their guns at Hao.

Hao watched the rest of the group leave, slowly smirking. "Only two, eh? I can deal with you." He jumped onto Spirit of Fire, his fists slowly clenching. He... didn't want to kill anyone, but, did he have a choice right now...?

If he died--so did Yoh.

He wasn't about to let that happen.

He would avenge their parents death.

...Starting with these two.

"Spirit of Fire." He looked at him. "You're hungry, aren't you?" He sat on his shoulders.

Yoh's eyes widened--along with the other. What was Hao going to do...?

He received a low growl in response, nodding his head once more.

Hao snapped his fingers once more. "...Burn them."

His younger brother, however, sprung up from where he was hiding, his eyes wide in horror. Hao... wasn't planning on killing them, was he...?

"Onii-chan! Stop! Don't kill them!" He pleaded. Yoh didn't want to see anyone die! If he killed them--it would have been just as bad as when they burned their home down!

His eyes filled with tears when he saw the two go up in flames, Hao's glance looking to Yoh; his eyes saddening greatly.

Yoh's eyes filled with tears, covering them. He couldn't believe what he had just seen.

At five--he had seen his brother commit murder.

For another, at ten--for the first time; blood had stained Asakura Hao's hands.

And for the first time in his life--he had shed tears.

To be continued

Lots of HaoYoh fluff should be in the next chapter (just... without the kissing). :D Yay... look forward to that.

Dark chapter, ne...? It'll be a bit more humorous in the next one.