Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King so don't sue me since I wrote this fic that takes place in the future. A long, long time after Yoh becomes Shaman King and leaves finally leaves this world.
Chapter 2 - Dinner
"Okaasan, how are you holding up?" Hao looked at his mother and though she looked like she did on any other day. He could tell that this was all really hurting her deep down inside. The father that he loved so much was now gone and his mother had lost the love of her life. There had been many times when things would happen between his parents that would make him question if they really were man and wife with the way his mother ran over his father, but he knew deep down that the two really loved one another.
Yoh would tell Anna that he was taking Hao out to train. When in secret, the two were just running away so that they wouldn't have to train under her watchful eye. They would disappear for days, leaving her at home to worry over the two, but too busy with the inn to complain. He would take his son all over the world with him as he traveled to go visit his friends. His son was always greeted with a warm smile and a big hug by all of his aunts and uncles. He also learned from them all. Not just their languages and about their cultures, but also about their different Shamanic powers and just how proficient he was in learning the techniques.
Later when they had revealed the truth to her that they were just trying to get out of training. She had merely countered that though Yoh wasn't teaching their son like he was suppose to and due to his laziness, their friends were and Hao was indeed learning. She didn't find any reason to punish the two for running off though she was content with glaring at Yoh and causing him to be uneasy under her firm gaze. She was glad that she didn't punish the two of them, mainly just Yoh, but it wasn't anything that he couldn't handle and wasn't used to.
Anna glanced up, being pulled out from her own lost thoughts as she remembered the past. Her son stood near by, the son that she had with Yoh.
"Ah, Hao. Did you say something?" He smiled at his mother, but she didn't return the smile as his heartstrings were being pulled as he looked at his mother. He was good at hiding his emotions from his mother as his father often did, but somehow she had always been able to read both of them especially when they really needed to be read.
"Are you hungry? I'll have dinner finished in a little bit." She nodded faintly, scarcely acknowledging what he had said. His smile faded as he walked over to the door and paused to glance back at his mother. He sighed, as she was lost in her own thoughts again, no doubt lost in the past. She hadn't cried at the funeral and for all he knew, she hadn't cried at all. He couldn't understand why his mother refused to openly mourn for his father and since his father was no longer around to cook. It fell onto him to provide for his mother.
She didn't really need anyone to cook for her, much less look after her, but he knew that she felt more comfortable when someone else was around to do her bidding. It was different matter whenever her son was around since he didn't need her to tell him what to do. He could read his mother like an open book since he had spent his whole life with her and had seen his father tend to her every beck and call, but no one could understand her the way his father had. It was times like this that he wished he were still a child and his parent's friends would come to pay visits. They had all become his aunts and uncles in the end. It was times like this that he could remember what it was like for them to stop by and hang out with them, how happy everyone seemed at those times, even his mother. Yoh's death had affected everyone in one-way or another. The young man wanted things to be like they use to and wished that his favorite uncle would be there since he hadn't seen much of him at the funeral.
Lyserg had arrived at the funeral late and had left early having an appointment that he couldn't miss though no one questioned the sadness that was in Shaman dowser's eyes as he stood off to the side during the funeral of his friend. Yoh had made his dreams come true when he killed Hao and though he didn't have any living relatives. Yoh had taken him into his own family and circle of friends, allowing him to be a close friend of Yoh and Anna's son. Hao couldn't change the fact that he had grown up with his parent's friends and treated them like family. He was preparing a European dish that Lyserg had taught him and the green haired Shaman had learned from his mother before she died. He could clearly remember that day that his uncle had come to pay a visit. It was like any other day in his family's house when a visitor had come to call.
Lyserg carried the small travel bag in his hand as he walked up to the front door of the inn. Nothing much had changed from the outside from what he could tell since his last visit as he knocked on the door and waited. It took a minute and the door finally slid open.
"Welcome to the Funibari Hot Springs Inn." Greeted a dark haired man almost too cheerfully with his eyes closed.
"Yoh-kun." The man's smile broadened as he saw the familiar face at his front door.
"Lyserg! Come in, come in." He motioned for him to come inside.
"How's married life treating you?" Yoh laughed nervously as the two made their way into the house and into the sitting room.
"Don't ask." Just then a little blonde boy with unruly hair sprinted into the room.
"Uncle Lyserg!" The boy shouted and launched himself into his uncle's arms. The boy could hear through the walls of the inn and had heard someone mention the name of his uncle. Lyserg didn't waste any time as he caught the boy and scooped him up into a big hug. The two giggled together as Yoh grinned at the picture. He had believed that Lyserg wouldn't have approved when he had chosen to name his son after his brother, but Lyserg hadn't held anything against the boy that had the hair of his mother and the look of his father. Hao had the eyes of his father, the same eyes of his twin, and Yoh's sheepish grin. Lyserg was his favorite uncle and often visited whenever he was in town. He would share his stories of all the adventures that he had been on and the boy would stare in awe at his uncle. They had even told the boy the truth about his real blood related uncle that he was named after. The boy had been shocked and asked many questions that no one could answer because the only person that knew that answer as to why Asakura Hao had killed so many people was him, but he was now dead, killed by his own brother.
Hao hadn't known how to take it when he found out the news that his own father could take the life of another human. Even when his parents had told him the truth about how Hao had killed Lyserg's parents, he still couldn't see how his kind hearted and carefree father would do such a thing to his own brother. When he had questioned his mother about the incident, she had stated that it had to be done and there was no other way. She refused to go more into details on the incident and it had left the boy confused to the matters between his real uncle and father.
He had seen pictures of Hao in the history books and when he was old enough. He was exposed to the Chou Senji Ryakketsu to learn his blood related uncle's techniques and way of life. The experience had been like nothing he had ever known before. He had spent countless hours training with his various aunts and uncles, but he hadn't known at the time what he was really doing as he learned each technique. To the boy, he believed it had all been just one big game and always liked it when he would shock his uncles or aunts by mimicking their powers with his own so easily. Little had they known that the boy had the competence to master all of their techniques. He was indeed a true descendant of Asakura Hao. At least, that is what everyone would say to him, but not his father.
Yoh would tell him that he is his and Anna's son. His father was always up to sharing various stories of other people even Anna's own battles, the powerful Itako that had defeated Asakura Hao's shikigamis so easily and controlled them as if it were a simple task that any Shaman could do. No one told the boy that the shikigamis' original master had taken them back and used them against everyone. Some things were just kept hidden from the boy and from the stories so that it was suitable, but as he grew older. More and more parts were added into the stories, the truth was made open to him and though not all the details were included. He would find out soon or later.
Hao tasted the food and turned off the heat on the stove. Dinner was done and it turned out being delicious. He hoped that it would cheer his mother up since his father used to make the dish to cheer her up at times cause he knew that she liked it so much. He finished setting the table and went to get his mother.
The creaking of the floorboards drew her out of her thoughts. The sound was growing nearer; it was the sound of someone's footsteps. It sounded familiar, from a long time ago, as if they belonged to him, as if Yoh was coming home from training. For a moment she felt that she was a teenager again and that any moment now. Yoh would walk in through the door, grinning as if he didn't have a care in the world, sweat dripping from his brow. He would smile at her as he went to get cleaned up to begin making dinner. She would tell him to make something good and he would assure her that it would be good though in the end the food would be lacking. She would scold him and he would smile, apologizing.
Hao appeared in the doorway and her gaze settled on him. "Its time for dinner." She blinked as his voice reached her. It wasn't Yoh's voice, but their sons. He was no longer there and she would never be able to eat another terrible meal made by him again. She slowly rose and headed to the kitchen, feeling the need to cry again yet unable to find the tears. She wanted to remain strong for Yoh and act as the wife of the Shaman King would by not shedding tears.