Disclaimer:::
I wish I do but I know I don't. .
Legend:::
(.…bla bla….) Is thoughts
"….bla bla…." Is normal speech
{….bla bla….} Is notes/signs/etc.
….bla bla…. Is memories
Wai~ I dedicate this chapter to SUGARFREE for drawing the most wonderful fanarts for 'Aniki'!
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Chapter 7
The following morning, Anna sat down on her knees, opposite her teacher who had a grim expression on her age-old face. The journey to the main house had been a quick one, for Anna wanted to waste no time. Asakura Kino had both her elbows on the low table between them and her wrinkled hands were brought up together where her chin rested, and she sat there looking deep in thought as she listened to Anna describe what had happened the night before.
The young sun shone brightly in the clear cerulean sky lighting up the ancient Asakura hall. An old Goban lay in one of its corners, filled with intricate patterns of black and white stones; the game now forgotten in favor of a far more pressing matter. The weight of the news Anna had brought with her was generating a heavy silence throughout its current occupants.
The clan leader, Asakura Yohmei sat behind his wife with a down cast face. Behind Anna were Yoh's friends; Manta, Ryuu, Ren, and Horo Horo, all of them had insisted on coming along when they heard of Yoh's abduction.
Anna finished her tale, and Kino sat quietly, her reaction was not one of surprise. Anna found this strange but had said nothing out of respect.
"So when you arrived, Yoh had already been badly injured. And this person who attacked my grandson..." The weary old woman said finally breaking the silence.
"He claimed to have nothing to do with it." Anna explained. "Do you think he is telling the truth?"
"If he is who I think he is, then it would be highly unlikely that he was telling the truth."
"Kino-sensei?"
"There is only one person in this world who can control the Spirit of Fire."
"What is the Spirit of Fire?!" Horo Horo blurted out.
Kino looked at the curious blue-haired boy who immediately blushed, embarrassed at his sudden outburst.
"Forgive my rudeness young man. In the light of this news, I seemed to have forgotten that Yoh's friends are present as well. The Spirit of Fire is a very special spirit, child. One that is 'born' from the Great Spirit itself. My student here would have recalled it from a book she studied, and had confirmed to me that the shaman who attacked Yoh, commanded this spirit." Kino explained to him.
"Then who is this shaman?" Ren asked.
"Why did he attack Yoh-kun?" Manta voiced out.
"Yeah. What does he want with danna?" Ryuu added gruffly.
At those questions, Kino straightened her composure and looked at them. When she gazed at the anxious expressions on the faces of her visitors, she sighed in defeat. Glancing behind her, she saw her silent husband nod in confirmation.
Looking back at the restless crowd before her, Kino took in a deep breath and began,
"His name is Asakura Hao."
Kino fidgeted her black gold-rimmed glasses as she told her visitors everything about the notorious ancestor of the clan. Yohmei sat silent behind her as she told the tale of Hao's exceptional powers, of his dream of a world completely inhabited by shamans only and of his quest for the Great Spirit to aid in realizing that dream. Then, she continued on about the Asakura clan's efforts to stop Hao's evil plans, how they barely managed to defeat him.
"…Hao had been defeated but he waited a good 500 years to be reincarnated somewhere else but alas somehow his plans had been thwarted again.
And so we come to his second reincarnation, 500 years later..."
"Baa-san. I'm sure we all appreciate the history lesson, but you still haven't answered any of our questions." Ren said trying not to sound bored.
"Young man, you have to learn some patience." Kino advised cheekily.
While Ren blushed an angry red at being told off like a child, the old woman continued,
"On the12th day of the fifth month of the year 1985, Asakura Hao had been reborn into the world. He is the grandson of the Asakura clan leader, son of Asakura Mikihisa and Keiko."
Kino glanced at her pupil. She knew that while her other audience were busy scratching their heads trying to figure out what she was saying, the pieces of the puzzle were beginning to come together in Anna's mind. Her student stared at her with disbelief and almost glared at her as if to dare Kino to confirm her suspicions.
"However, most of you will know him as the twin brother of Asakura Yoh." She finally said leaving no room for doubts.
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Yoh stared transfixed at the burning inferno that had been his home ever since he could remember. The flames looked beautiful as they randomly swayed, hungry for more things to burn. They were deadly yes, but still beautiful. The fire towered over him and he felt absolute fear for the first time in his young life. Even if it wasn't for himself.
He dropped his bag unceremoniously at the gates, causing all his crayons and colored papers to spill out of it. At the kindergarten, he had taken care to carefully pack the art he had drawn to show off to his parents. But as he rushed anxiously towards his blazing house, Yoh didn't care about it or anything else except to save his family.
"Mama! Papa! Ni~…aah.." Yoh's cries were cut short when he bumped into something and he stumbled onto the ground.
He brushed off the dirt, stood up quickly and immediately resumed to run but he was held back. Strong hands gripped his arms and as Yoh looked at the stranger who was blocking his way. His face was hidden, as if covered in eternal darkness and Yoh had a feeling that he was the same person as the one before.
Nevertheless, Yoh felt his worries disappeared as he exclaimed with relief.
"You're safe! I was so scared! Are mama and papa ok?"
The stranger turned his gaze towards the flames and then glanced back at him. Yoh could make out the slight curve of his mouth.
"W-why are you smiling?" Yoh asked slowly. (Why was he smiling?) Yoh thought nervously. After a pause, his heart began to beat faster. (Mama and Papa must be ok. That's why he's so happy.) Yoh concluded with tremendous relief.
"Mama and Papa are ok. Where are they? Why aren't they with you? They are ok, right?" Yoh asked happily.
This other person pursed his lips as his smile turned into a tightened line and he slowly began to shake his head.
Yoh felt his heart skip a beat. His own smile vanished, his mouth forming an 'o' as his eyes widened in disbelief. The feeling of dread returned and Yoh looked back at his burning home in horror.
"Mama! Papa!" He cried out again with tears in his eyes, expecting his parents to miraculously emerge from the blaze unharmed.
"It's too late Yoh…They're gone…" His voice came and Yoh knew he was the same person as before.
"No! Mama! Papa! Don't leave us alone!" Yoh tried again unwilling to give up hope. He struggled to release himself from the person's grip, so that he could rescue his parents.
"Yoh…" This figure held him tight. Yoh's struggles were useless.
"Iya da! Iya da!" Yoh shouted in denial-not realizing that he had reverted to his first language-as he broke down at last, his tears streaming down his face.
"Shh shh… Everything will be okay. I am here. I'll never leave you alone…" The stranger replied in the same language of which he was most comfortable in.
Yoh felt himself let go. He stopped struggling and began sobbing uncontrollably in the other's arms. The one who held him just stood there not wanting to disturb him in his moment of grief. He felt gentle hands, calmly smoothing his back to soothe his sorrow.
"I'll never leave you alone…" he repeated.
Those words he spoke, they comforted him then. But Yoh felt the old feelings mixed with a present hurt.
Liar.
Emotionally drained, Yoh sagged down to the floor still weeping, as the stranger's arms struggled to keep him steady.
"Yoh…Yoh…Listen we have to go. Yoh..wake up..."
"Wake up…"
"Wake up…"
"Wake up…"
Asakura Yoh woke up.
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"However, most of you will know him as the twin brother of Asakura Yoh."
Her last sentence created a chain reaction among Yoh's friends.
The boy named Horo Horo stood up abruptly yelling "WHAT?!" successfully knocking over the tall odd-looking shaman with strange hairdo named Ryuu who had been sitting beside him. Ren, the Chinese boy who was sitting at Ryuu's other side, got knocked over by Ryuu in turn and was pinned under one of his elbows. Ryuu who was in shock, remained spread-eagled on the floor, as stiff as a board, trapping the boy. The short child, Manta tried to help his trapped friend but unfortunately wasn't making much progress.
All in all, it was a circus and if the situation hadn't been grim, Kino would have laughed out loud. The noise was picking up as 'what' wasn't the only word that the ice shaman had uttered. Ren was shouting for Ryuu to lift his arms and Manta was breathing heavily out of exhaustion.
Only Anna remained as passive as ever, her face betraying no emotions. Her fingers silently gripped the hem of her black skirt as she suddenly shouted loudly,
"Quiet!"
And then like magic, the noise disappeared and Yoh's friends were in their original sitting positions again.
Kino looked at them in surprise.
"Please continue sensei." Anna then said softly.
The old woman felt as if her mouth opened automatically as she continued with the tale.
"From the moment of his birth, Hao had caused us nothing but grief. He had been powerful enough to command the Spirit of Fire even as an infant and he succeeded in injuring Yohmei and Mikihisa. Our son had a horrible burn to the face and the scars still remain. But the thing he had done that was most horrible, was to kidnap our grandson in front of our eyes."
Here Kino stopped and her head lowered down a fraction. Then, she continued on.
"For many years we lost track of the twins. We searched everywhere we thought Hao would be hiding but we came up with nothing. Then one day, five years after the night Hao and Yoh had vanished, we finally had a lucky break. Mikihisa noticed an article in an international magazine. In America, a large mansion had been mysteriously burnt to the ground. The owners, a rich couple along with two loyal servants perished in the fire, leaving behind two adopted twin sons as sole heirs to their properties. The police suspected foul play but was unable to obtain any suspects and could not confirm the source of the fire. The twins were ruled out as suspects because they were only five-year old children.
This came to us as such a perfect fit it was too much to be of mere coincidence. The fact that they were in America could be why we had no success in investigating their whereabouts-for we had focused our searches here in Japan. The couple had five-year old twins who had been adopted. The mansion had been totally destroyed by an unknown fire."
"We believe Hao lost his patience with the couple and also with them being only human, he had killed them. And when the two servants found out, he killed them too. Then he used the Spirit of Fire to burn the house to cover the murder. It was also convenient for him to inherit their money. Hao is merciless and would do anything if it benefits him. Such a thing doesn't surprise me anymore." Yohmei finally voiced out his thoughts.
"Nevertheless, because of this carelessness from Hao, we were able to conclude on their location. We immediately sent our clan's best shamans to retrieve Yoh from him and if possible destroy him too." Kino explained.
"Although we managed to rescue Yoh, Hao managed to escape." Yohmei said through gritted teeth.
At that, Ren gave a grunt and muttered a "Heh, coward."
All was silent for a while, and then Manta asked curiously, "Why hasn't Yoh-kun told us he had a twin brother? Wouldn't he have warned us about Hao when he's so dangerous? Even Anna-san didn't know about him."
"Unfortunately, during the battle with Hao, Yoh was seriously injured. He took a hard blow to his head. And even though he recovered nicely, he lost his memory." Kino explained.
A collective "WHAT?!" was heard.
"Yes. He lost all his memory till the time he woke up. And we told him nothing of Hao and kept it from him all these years."
"But why do that?"
"We didn't know how Yoh would react. Who knows what terrible things he had gone through when he was under Hao? So we left it up to fate. And as fate would have it, Yoh never spoke anything of ever remembering his five years with Hao."
"Fate…" Anna voiced out her hands clenching.
Everyone looked at the blond Itako curiously. Up until then she had but muttered only a few words.
"You still haven't answered Manta's or Ryuu's questions." Anna then stated.
"This guy wants to get rid of competition right? That's why he attacked Yoh." Horo Horo concluded before Kino could say anything.
Kino shook her head slowly. "True, Hao has been reborn. And yes he has joined the Shaman fight. But he attacked Yoh not to eliminate an opponent."
"Eh?" Horo Horo looked confused.
"Weren't you listening properly when Anna-san explained, Horo Horo-kun? She said that Hao said 'Yoh needs to be stronger' and 'I will personally see to his training'. He wouldn't have said those things if he merely wanted to get rid of competition." Manta said as-a-matter-of-factly.
"Keh." Horo Horo scoffed slightly at Manta, a bit embarrassed.
"As his twin, Yoh shared a number of Hao's powers. This makes Yoh potentially as powerful as Hao is. Like before, Hao took Yoh away from us to ensure no one would be able to stand in his way in the future. And with Yoh on his side he would have a powerful shaman-perhaps the most powerful after himself-to help him obtain the Great Spirit. Hao probably approached Yoh and told Yoh to join him. And when Yoh turned down his offer, they started fighting."
"Danna…" Ryuu looked like he was going to burst into tears.
"Poor Yoh-kun." Manta sympathized.
"Ano Hao no yarou. When I meet him, I'm gonna kick his ass." Horo Horo said angrily.
"I hate people who use others for their own purpose." Ren uttered, suddenly reminded about being used by his own father.
Then suddenly a new voice sounded in the hall.
"Hao-sama is not like that! You people are liars! Opacho don't like liars. Opacho don't like you."
Everyone in the room turned towards the sudden outburst. A small brown-skinned child with bushy hair was shimmering like an apparition outside the hall. She had an angry look on her face as she hovered there a few inches off the ground.
"A spirit?" Manta asked.
"No. She's a shaman. Somehow she has the ability to go out of her body for a while when she's in a trance. People call it 'Astral Projection'." Anna explained stoically.
"I see." Manta took down his next research subject on his notepad.
"Hey you! You one of Hao's lackeys?" Horo Horo demanded to know.
"Hmph..Opacho is not a lackey. Opacho is Hao-sama's friend. Opacho has a message for you bad liars. Hao-sama says not to come look for Yoh-sama. Yoh-sama will be returned to his stupid friends after one week."
"But we leave for America in three days!" Ryuu exclaimed.
"Hao-sama said he will take care of that. Yoh-sama will meet his stupid friends there."
"And why in the world should we believe 'Hao-sama'?" Ren asked sarcastically.
"Hao-sama is not like you! Hao-sama is not a liar! Opacho also thinks stupid friends cannot do anything anyway."
Horo Horo lunged hastily at the image but caught only air as he slipped through it and fell to the ground with a mouthful of dirt.
"Heeheehee, bai bai Yoh-sama's stupid friends." She said giggling and then disappeared.
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Yoh blinked. Then he closed his eyes as he reached up his fingers to rub his throbbing temples. His whole body felt sore and his cheeks felt damp. Was he crying?
His head hung low as he sat up slowly, ignoring the protests of his aching muscles. His soft brown hair curtained his face as he stared down at the blankets thinking.
Yoh was now very uncertain that he was reliving his past through his dreams or visions like he originally thought he was. The past that he had forgotten because of his accidents. In his dreams, his present consciousness was still with him. It was like acting in an old movie with no clue of the part you're supposed to play, yet acting it out perfectly. He had been aware of what was happening around him, yet he had no control over himself. He was the audience as well as the actor.
And these visions had many holes in it. Like the previous one. His parents aren't dead. And he doesn't know how to speak in English. And who was that stranger that was in every one of them. Yoh never got to see his face. He doesn't even know his name.
Sighing, Yoh wondered if these visions would change anything. Yoh wondered if he was going mad. Nevertheless, he'd better worry about that later. Now he had to get up and make breakfast for Anna.
(Anna must have saved me from that kid. I'd better make something good to thank her.) Yoh thought yawning.
Then he realized something terrible.
"Gyah~~Anna's training will be murder since I lost to that kid!" Yoh shouted out grievously.
"Yoh?"
(That voice. I've heard it before.) Yoh thought, his eyes widening.
Slowly Yoh straightened his body and glanced to his right.
Asakura Yoh could only gape as his black-obsidian eyes stared into their midnight twins.
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Hmm..not much action this chap. Just a lot of yapping.
Ok, Hao's past lives are the same as in the anime. And even that I'm not so sure. Feel free to correct me, but I guess I'll just leave it that way.
Sorry for being this late.--__--;; I fell sick. *Blames it on the weather* I was in no mood to write anything. =(
Anyway, I do feel better now…^__^
Arigatou gozaimasu! Your wonderful reviews are greatly appreciated! They really brighten up my day!
Sankyuus to:::
AnnaYoh, RuByMoOn, KiraX105, Amethyst Bubble, Goku-chan2002, Cessniper23, Hikaru, tone, Riku, Haruka chan, Hao-sama rulze the world, Hirame, somebody.
Ice-Phoenix:: My exams could have been easier if only I had studied more .;; Thanx 4 asking! ^__^
Kaori:: Hey, are u the same Kaori who joined the shaman twins yahoo group? Forget this if ur not…^__^;;
winky golden:: I'll cover that accident thing in my next chap I think. Anyway I'll try to explain it.
Kitsune Asakura:: Thanx fer telling me the name. ^__^ Hmm..the training is an Asakura secret. I just assumed that Anna knows everything about the Asakuras. (Well except bout Hao, but I think I covered that this chap.^__^)
Noreen:: Thanx fer telling me the name 2. ^__^ Now I'll just have to see if it's Zelel or Zoroel..Hmm sounds bout the same…
Sweet Anime Fan:: I haven't really planned yet when . I keep changing my mind.
Vx Tao Ren xV:: Long live Hao-sama! ^__^ Aiyai, sankyuu for telling me the name 2!
Jenny:: Thanx again for sharing the pics with me! I really like them! ^__^
Question:
Is Kino an Itako like Anna?
Kino is Yohmei's wife, right? Do forgive me if I'm wrong.
If you wanna see the fanart Sugarfree-san drew (Sugarfree-san is a very talented artist, they're very nice ^__^), it's posted on the site below.
It's under the 'omake' section, under the 'fans works' heading. While your visiting, take a look around too. You might find something you like ^__~ (ne Wumei-san?)
==For some reason the link won't show up. You can reach it through my bio page.
Quote of the day:
Amidamaru, he says
Serve your master well, but make sure to serve his fiancée better.
Oh yeah~Since I'm still a bit down, I don't think I can write very quickly. I'll try to post the next chap as soon as I can. Gomen nasai m-__-m *bows humbly to you wonderful people*
~Matta ne~
~¤Crimson Flame¤~
Ps: I wanted to upload this earlier but ff.net went baka…^__^;;