Disclaimer:::
I'm amazed that you still read this when you already know what I'm going to say. I don't own SK okay…
Legend:::
(.…bla bla….) Is thoughts
"….bla bla…." Is normal speech
{….bla bla….} Is notes/signs/etc.
….bla bla…. Is memories
*…bla bla..* Is sound effect
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Chapter 10
Day 2
*Riiiing Riiing*
"Lunch break!"
Yoh stumbled out on short stubby legs as he rushed to exit the room. Their teacher, a nice middle-aged lady, smiled as the sea of children spilled out from the homeroom into the narrow corridor. Each one was carrying their own lunch boxes, eager for a quick meal and longer playtime at the kindergarten's mini playground.
Yoh suddenly paused at the doorway and looked back into the room, which was empty except for another boy. Yoh was annoyed. He always took his time and made him wait. Yoh hurried back towards the boy and pulled at his arms.
"Wai~Hurry! Hurry!" Yoh shouted excitedly as the other boy arranged his books into a neat pile.
Yoh was practically jumping up and down when the long-haired boy brought out two bento boxes-their lunch-from under his desk and Yoh wasted no time.
The excited boy pulled at the other's arm again and proceeded to drag the poor kid towards the exit. The long-haired boy stumbled clumsily bumping at the desks and chairs of the classroom while trying not to drop their lunch.
Yoh loved break time. Because it meant that he needn't think a lot. And he could relax all the time.
Yoh sat down at the steps leading to the playground. The long-haired boy sat down beside him. He then opened the boxes and offered him the food of which Yoh quickly wolfed down.
Together they sat there watching the other kids play on the slides and see saws.
Yoh didn't know why, but the other kids wouldn't play with them. It made him really sad.
But it was quite alright. Because of this person who was with him, he didn't feel so lonely.
That day was like most every other day. But the difference was, four boys came up to them during playtime and asked them both to join in their game.
Yoh was nervous but he was very happy to be invited. He accepted their offer eagerly and immediately followed them. The boy who was with him was a bit hesitant but he trailed after Yoh anyway.
The four other kids led them to a relatively quiet and shady corner and then suddenly one of them hit Yoh's companion hard in the face. Yoh could only look in shock as two of the kids joined in hitting his friend who had fallen onto the ground. The remaining one held him at bay covering up his mouth.
"What's wrong Seth? Teacher's precious little pet can't fight back?" one of the boys taunted in a singsong voice.
Yoh knew Seth had been in trouble before. He'd beat up other kids who'd tried these things. But Yoh didn't think that he should hurt those kids. He remembered making him promise not to fight with other kids anymore.
Yoh was scared. He didn't know what to do. The boys kept hitting his friend. Seth was defending himself on the ground but not relenting to their hits.
"I've got better things to do than to deal with pathetic jealous human children." Seth replied in an almost bored tone.
His defiance and lack of fear angers the boys more and they began to hit harder.
"We are not jealous! We are just as smart as you are! Teacher just likes you because your mommy and daddy are rich."
Yoh couldn't take it anymore. He struggled harder and managed to free himself from his captor's grip. He tried to push the kids away from Seth, which was easier said than done because the boys were a lot bigger than he was.
"Leave him alone you big bullies!" Yoh shouted out at them.
"You wanna fight too, Sean?" the kid who had been holding him said smirking. He is the leader of these bullies.
(Sean? Who's Sean?)
He raised a single hand and in a split moment it contacted with Yoh's cheek. Really hard. It hurt a lot and a trickle of blood flowed from his mouth. He must have accidentally bitten his tongue.
"Sean!"
"Why are you hurting us?" Yoh cried, rubbing the sore spot on his face.
"Because you're weird. You are not normal. Weirdo. Weirdo. Weirdo." He chants.
The leader raises his hand for another strike and Yoh brought his arms up to defend himself.
Only to find himself back in his room at the break of dawn.
~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~
Yoh managed to get to breakfast in time for once. After that episode with the ten gigantic spiders on his bed-which he just knew Hao had something to do with-he didn't want to take any chances. A chill went up his spine as he unwittingly remembered the night before. How did Hao know he was terrified of spiders?
They ate breakfast in almost total silence. Hao raised an eyebrow at Yoh's lack of noise but didn't comment on it. Yoh didn't feel much like talking then because of his dream.
It was the most vivid one yet. Perhaps it had to do with his increase in furyouku. Yoh had no idea why, but that dream had triggered something. Something he had pushed to the corners of his mind.
It could possibly be his first memory yet. He remembered when he was young, he had woken up one day with no memory of who he was, what he had done, where he had been.
And he remembered his parents saying that he had been kidnapped when he was a baby.
"Years ago, you were taken from us when you were a mere baby by an evil man. We spent those few years searching for you. Then at last, we were granted a chance to save you and we did. A week ago, the whole Asakura clan gathered and fought the evil man to bring you back to us. And we succeeded. But you were seriously injured from the battle and it took you this long to recover. Unfortunately the evil man got away."
And then there was another thing his parents had said,
"You fell from a tree, my son." His mother had said. "Trying to get to the kite you were playing with that had gotten stuck in it."
"When you did, you hit your head on a rock nearby. You were lucky it's just a short fall and there were leaves to cushion it. That's why other than your memory loss and a few scratches, you weren't hurt at all. You just fainted when you hit your head." His father had added.
Assuming that in the first place he had lost his memories then. That would mean that his parents had lied to him. Perhaps they thought that he had been delirious and unwary then. They thought that he would not remember it. But how could he have forgotten.
Could it be that he had been kidnapped and been brought up in a foreign land? He'd heard of stuff like that in the news. Where newborns are kidnapped and sold off to families who want children. It would explain his ability to speak in English in the past dream. Then that would mean, the dreams he had been having, could have indeed be his forgotten memories.
Yoh never pushed his family for the answers to his past before. Now he wished he did. It's just too confusing for him.
"Yoh-sama! Yoh-sama!"
"Huh?" Yoh murmured.
Then he realized that the milk that he was pouring into his glass was no longer in his glass. The milk flowed in a continuous stream from the glass to the table to his shirt and pants.
Hao muttered a "Baka" and continued reading his newspaper.
"Gyah~!" Yoh shouted, snapping out of his daze. He got up in a hurry and tried to wipe his shorts clean frantically.
*gasp*
Yoh looked up to see Opacho gaze in Hao's direction and say an "Oh..oou."
Horrified at what he might see, Yoh slowly forced himself to look at the head of the table.
The plastic pitcher that he had been holding had flown right out on his hands and landed perfectly overturned on Hao's beautiful, dark, silky, velvety and highly-conditioned reddish brown hair.
And the pitcher had not been empty.
Hao's face was downcast and Yoh could not see his expression behind the veil of dark hair which was now streaked with white. He heard the sound of grinding teeth and he swore he heard a vein pop somewhere.
"Y-----OOOOHHHH!!!!!" Hao thundered and the whole hall seemed to shake.
Smiling sinisterly, Hao raised both of his shaking and clenched up fists to his chest. When he began to laugh dangerously, Yoh backed away nervously and began looking for the nearest exit.
Yoh's eyes bulged when he saw Hao open the palms of his hand and in them grew twin tiny sparks. The sparks grew into fireballs, which were burning brighter and getting bigger.
Hao raised his arm in a throwing pose.
Yoh did what any normal person would do in this situation.
He ran away screaming.
"Gyah~I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He apologized repeatedly when he managed to dodge the fireballs. Just barely.
"Burn in hell!" Hao cackled as he threw more fireballs his way.
"They say milk is good for your hair!"
"Die!"
"Waaaah!! Opacho! Save me!"
"Yoh-sama no baka." Opacho could only say in sympathy.
"Muahahahahahaha!!!!!"
"Waaaaaaaaa!!!!"
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Yoh rubbed his slightly singed cheek compliments of Hao's fireball. He looked as if he'd been through the fires of hell and back. Which wasn't far from the truth really.
A drop of sweat trickled down the side of his face.
It was almost noon.
Hao had told him to summon the spirits of the wood from a pile of branches he had collected. Yoh didn't know where he got those branches but it took him more than an hour to summon the group of 15 to 20 spirits from them.
And ever since he did, they've been trading insults at him. Things that could make his ears bleed.
Yeah. Sure. Yoh knew he wasn't the brightest person there is but no need to tell him that over and over and over again.
But even then, Yoh just listened calmly to their jeers and sneers, not shouting back or getting angry at them.
Seeing his calm and lack of to reaction to their disdainfulness, the spirits began to stop insulting him and seemed to hold a bit of respect for him.
So instead, they started sharing their experiences and stories with him.
Yoh just sat there listening with interest to all their old grandmother stories. Stories of wonder and of forgotten legends.
Sometimes he nodded, other times he smiled when they told him how young and inexperienced he was. How they've seen things that he'd only dreamed of seeing.
Nevertheless with every minute passed, it really was getting harder to maintain the summoning. But Hao had told him to do it for half an hour.
And as expected, he began dozing off to the consistent murmurs of the chattering spirits.
Unknown to him that two pairs of eyes were supervising him with the utmost interest.
~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~
"Hao-sama? Why Yoh-sama take so long to summon wood spirits?"
Hao stared ahead at the sight below him. Yoh was taking a nap again. Not that that surprises him anymore. What did surprise him was that Yoh was still maintaining the summoning subconsciously.
Distractedly, Hao tried to satisfy the little girl's curiosity.
"The branches I've given him, I've taken from a hundreds years old tree. With spirits that old, the shaman who summons them should be equally wise and needs a lot of experience to summon them quickly. If not, it takes sheer persistence and stubbornness to summon them."
"Wow. Yoh-sama stubborn?" Then Opacho added giggling, "Just like Hao-sama!"
"Just like me?" Hao asked surprised.
"Yup!"
"Hmph…perhaps even more." He said smiling to himself.
"Maintaining and controlling is always the hardest part of summoning. It's funny that they haven't insulted him more. Yoh must be smarter than what he credits himself to be." Hao laughed at the unbelievable conclusion he made.
After Yoh's thirty minutes were up, he jumped down from the tree branch he and Opacho had been on and silently strolled towards Yoh's sleeping form to wake him for lunch.
Needless to say, Yoh was in for a rude awakening.
~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~
After another round of running away from his insane, fireball-throwing cousin, he could use a break. Yoh had his first lunch with his companions and luckily it had been quite uneventful.
Then Hao left him again to summon the water spirits. Opacho played along nearby the tiny lake that he was to summon the spirits from.
And when he managed to finally summon them, Yoh suddenly realized that he had found his natural clones in the forms of the spirits of waters.
And he could not be happier.
They were almost as lazy as he was and were quite content to just float around and relax in the breeze.
And unlike the wood spirits who disliked him in the first place, the water spirits seem to almost like him. Perhaps they found someone they could relate to.
Yoh smiled at that thought.
He laid down on his back and closed his eyes. He had left the spirits to do what they pleased till the thirty minutes were up though he had the suspicion that they were doing the same thing that he was.
Hao had been right. At first when he tried the summoning, he was close to begging them because they wouldn't be bothered by his needs. But once he did, they were quite content to follow what he wanted them to do.
"Help Yoh-sama! Help!"
Yoh's already droopy lids snapped right open when he heard the frantic shouts.
His stood up quickly and glanced towards the direction of her voice and saw Opacho waving her hands in frenzy in the waters of the lake. The top of her head was bobbing up and down, and she was between choking and spluttering.
Without sparing it a second thought, Yoh jumped into the lake wincing at the sudden chill that met his warm body. As fast as he could with a still healing arm, he swam towards the fast disappearing girl who was near the middle of the lake.
Ignoring the spasms of pain that flew through his right arm, Yoh managed to grab the panicking girl and swam as fast as he could towards the platform that had led to the middle of the lake. The one that Opacho must have fallen off from.
With his energy fast ebbing, Yoh managed to haul Opacho onto it but when he tried to get up himself he felt that he couldn't move one of his leg.
(Damn! Feels like a cramp.) Yoh realized.
His eyes widened as he lost his only grip on the mossy platform and fell back helplessly into the cold water.
With a useless leg and a still-broken arm, Yoh knew he was in big trouble.
Completely submerged and completely drained of energy, Yoh felt the last of his breath run out and his consciousness slip away when he saw tiny blue lights encompass his body and then his whole world turned black.
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"Mataku. You just love to get yourself into trouble don't you?"
Hao said to his soaked and unconscious twin. He crossed his arms as he sighed in relief.
From the floating platform he had been watching the whole scenario with interest. Watched as Yoh became alert to his charge's yells for help. He only paid close attention to his brother's reactions.
After all, Opacho could swim.
It had been a test to see if Yoh could control the water spirits well enough to help Opacho.
But the idiot had managed to surprise him by jumping into the water himself.
So selfless was he to risk his life for another without thinking twice.
So Yoh.
Because while he managed to get Opacho out, Yoh had difficulty doing so himself. Which was no surprise considering his condition.
Hao had watched in disbelief as Yoh disappeared from his sight, torn between wanting to help and wanting to let Yoh be independent.
In the end, Yoh managed to prove himself by saving his own hide with the help of the spirits of the waters.
Hao swore.
His brother always took his time doing things.
He'll pay for making him worry like that.
Yes. Hao thought. More spiders shall do the trick.
God forbid, but tormenting his little brother is such a good stress-reliever.
~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~
Hao felt generous enough that he let Yoh rest for the remainder of the day since the incident.
After dinner he instructed Yoh to finish mastering the summoning technique that very night much to his twin's dismay.
"But can't I do that tomorrow?" Yoh said sheepishly trying to bargain his way out.
"No."
Yoh cried.
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Even though, Yoh had to admit that if he had done it the next day, he would have not been able to see the beauty of the fire spirits against the night sky. They burned bright like the smaller versions of the fireballs Hao had thrown at him and Yoh smiled happily because it was as if he held the night's stars in his hands.
"Gyaah!" Yoh dodged right out of the way as one of them flew right at him.
Sounds of giggling pierced the cool night air, as Yoh dodged another attempt to burn him bald.
During the summoning, the nasty little things tried to burn him.
Now, after the summoning, the evil fiends from hell are still trying to fry him.
Their personality reminded him of someone he just met.
Strangely though, he could control the spirits better than he expected he could. Some of the fire spirits seemed overwhelmed by him, almost acting frightened for some unknown reason and they followed his orders willingly.
Hao's earlier description about them being hard to handle came to his mind. He must have been trying to scare him then.
When Yoh finally finished, he felt more exhausted then he had ever been in his life.
Hao suddenly appeared, giving him a hearty 'Congratulations!' for completing the first part of his special training course. It was then followed by a pat on the back.
At least that's what Hao called it.
To Yoh, it felt as if a huge boulder had slammed into his back from behind.
That night he tread on heavy feet towards his bed and the moment his head touch the pillow, he drifted off to sleep in a fraction of a second.
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The leader raises his hand for another strike and Yoh brought his arms up to defend himself.
The bully's hand seemed to hover for a moment and then it came soaring down.
A startled yelp resounded in the air.
Seth stood in front of him, his hand grabbing at the boy's wrist effortlessly stopping his impending blow. The rest of the bullies were in a heap on the ground.
The leader looks shocked and didn't seem to believe what he is seeing. A boy who was smaller than him was preventing him from budging with only on hand.
"It's one thing to hurt me. I won't fight back. But if you lay a finger on him again, I will kill you."
The leader's face whitens and he begins to wail and cry like the real coward he is. When Seth released his grip on his wrist, he turned and ran off bawling along with his other friends.
Yoh scanned his companion for injuries. He wasn't really surprised when he realized that Seth didn't look much hurt at all.
"Are you ok?" He said as he walked together with him towards the main building with a slight limp.
"Yes." Yoh felt like crying again. He should be worried about himself. Not asking about his welfare.
"It's alright. Everything will be okay." Seth said ruffling his hair.
"Yeah." he agreed feeling a little better.
"I promise you, Yoh. I can't let anything happen to my little brother, now can I?"
(What?!?!)
*Riiiing Riiing*
"Lunch break's over. We better get back."
(No, wait!)
*Riiiing Riiing*
"Okay ni-chan!"
(NO!)
"Wait!" Yoh shouted out.
In a daze, he sat up too quickly and fell down to the hard marble floor.
His trembling body was hunched and he was barely supporting himself on all fours. His chest moved in and out as his lungs struggled to keep up with his racing heart. Yoh gasped for precious air, his hot breath became a shrouded mist against the chilly atmosphere. His obsidian eyes were wide open and his sweat-covered face had a very shocked expression as he stared unseeingly at the pooled cloth beneath him.
Despite the warmth of the blankets that had been pulled down along with him, Yoh felt unnaturally cold as he realized a solid truth.
"I have a brother."
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Gyah~Why can't I do write as much and as quickly more often? ^^;;
Hao=Seth
Yoh=Sean
Sorry if they sound lame, but I can't have Yoh's adopted parents calling them by their real names, can I? =P Besides, it's what I imagined they would be called if they had English names. *smiles*
Yes I can see I'm beginning to bore you guys. Hehehe. Sorry for that. Hope it gets more interesting now.
Thanx a million:::
Goku-chan2002~jia~Kitsune Asakura~Hikaru~Kaori~Kary-Asakura~Apple-chan~Alexis'sIcePhoenix~Nyudles~Hirame
cool-girl1~~ Gyah~the illustrations for Aniki are great, aren't they? I wish I could say that I drew them, but nah I'm not that good. The illustrations are by SUGARFREE whom I can't thank enough. Mailto: digicat4u@yahoo.com to give your comment.
Sweet Anime Fan~~ Heehee! You're d only one who guessed about the hairy thing. ^^ And you're correct. *gives you an apple* So clever! ^^
winky golden~~ The info about the spirits are made up by mua! Me! It's my crap. Hehehe. Yes, your 'unusualness' caught my eye. ^^;;
Quote of the day:
Horo Horo, he says
*Buuurrrp!* Say what?
~CrIMsoN fLamE~