Pika318: It's Halloween today but more importantly, it's also the mother tongue 'O' levels. I did well in June so I don't have to take the paper today. I appreciate all the reviews I received and did you guys read my other story, about the alternate ending of Shaman King? It's really good, so check it out!

Chapter 5: School

A week had passed ever since Kyomi came back to the Asakura main house. She had already moved into the unwanted house of her relative's and had settled down there with Hao. Hao had also started attending the lessons conducted in the main house, since it was also the premises for a shaman school. He was only four, which made him the youngest student in the school. And this will inevitably, attract a lot of attention.

"Hey, did you hear about the newest student?"

"Yeah, he's only four, so why did he come here?"

"Because he's an Asakura, baka."

"Never heard of him, though. Hey, Ashiru, do you know anything about him. You're good at collecting information."

"All I heard about him is that he is one of those nature shamans. The ones that sensei told us about. Communicating with nature and all. Oh yeah, I saw him come in this morning with his mother. I heard that they were chased out."

"Where did you know all that?"

"I heard the adults talking about it, okay. Now just shut up. Here comes the twerp."

Hao, who was standing some distance away from the other kids, had come out for some fresh air. He had just finished his private lessons with his oji – san. They were to help him catch up with the others and were simplified in language so that he could understand since he was so young. He looked over to the older children. For some reason, all of them except one looked away. They had spirits floating around them. Some were humans and others were animals. The spirits probably belonged to them. He wanted to know other children, since he didn't have any friends before and went up to them, feeling curious and frightened at the same time for two reasons. One, he had never talked to other children before. Two, they were older, so they looked very big and threatening in his perception.

"Excuse me," he began shyly, not knowing how to approach them.

"What do you want?" one of them asked. The edge of his tone was so cutting, Hao winced in fright.

"Ashiru, don't be so hard on the kid. You scared him." A girl walked up to him, punching the one known as Ashiru. She was the only person who did not look away just now.

"My name's Mokoto. What's yours." She had a friendly voice, so Hao decided to reply.

"Hao." He replied.

"Humph, it's a childish name. Suitable for a twerp like him." Ashiru commented snidely, still a bit pissed off by the punch.

"Shut up, Ashiru," Mokoto said before turning back to Hao. "Don't mind him, Hao. He's always like that to newcomers." Hao nodded, still a bit frightened by the others. He liked Mokoto, though. She was nice.

"So…is it true that you can communicate with nature? That ability is really rare, so you should treasure it." Mokoto asked. She was beginning to like the small boy, but she wished that he wasn't so withdrawn.

Hao nodded again. Then he said shyly. "About your spirit, can you tell me about it? I don't have one, so…"

"Oh, you're talking about my dog here? His name is Hiro. Here, you can pat him." Mokoto said.

Hao timidly stretched out a hand and stroked the dog's head. The dog was about as tall as him, after all.

"He's my guardian spirit. I oversoul him into this," Mokoto pointed to a boomerang strapped to her back "and use him to fight."

Hao's eyes widened in amazement. Spirits can be used to fight? He never heard of that. He never saw his mother using spirits though, so that was probably why he didn't know.

Hao was interested now.Just as he was about to ask another question, the bell rang.

"Ah, break time is over." Mokoto said. She never liked being in lessons. She turned to Hao. "Well, I'll see you after school." She said before running for her next lesson.

Ashiru and the others left as well without a second glance. They couldn't care less about a brat.

The day passed and soon it was after school. Hao was dismissed earlier than the rest of the children because he didn't have to learn as much for the moment. After looking around and seeing that his mother had not come yet, he decided to sit under a tree to wait for her. Then he heard a voice.

Hey, never seen you around before, are you new?

Hao looked around in confusion but could not identify the source of the voice.

Silly, look up.

Hao did, and all he saw was the tree and a bird.

"Are you the bird or the tree?" he asked, since he knew he could communicate with both.

I'm the bird, the tree's too old to feel like talking to anyone.

"Oh."

So are you new?

Hao nodded, and the bird flew to his shoulder. It chirped happily.

It's been a long time since I met someone I could talk too. The other birds ignore me for some reason. Now I'm talking to a human, sheesh.

"Is it bad talking to me?" Hao asked, noting the frustrated tone in the bird's voice.

No, it's not that. You're name's Hao, right? I heard about you from the adults teaching here.

"Uh – huh."

"Motoko, I told you he was weird. Look he's even talking to a bird now." Ashiru's voice drifted to his ears. The bird gave an irritated chirp before flying back to the tree.

It's that loudmouthed boy. Never liked him.

"Ashiru, that's not being weird. That's using his ability." Mokoto retorted, wanting to defend the young and shy boy.

"His ability is weird in the first place."

"That's not weird, that's rare."

Mokoto stopped once they were nearing Hao, but Ashiru did not give up.

"Hey twerp, I saw you talking to a bird. Do you know that's not normal?" he asked in a sneering tone.

Hao shook his head. No one ever told him it was abnormal. His mother never said anything when he did that before.

"See, not only is he weird, he's stupid too."

"Ashiru, shut up. He's only a child." Mokoto said, jumping to Hao's defence.

"He's only a child." Ashiru imitated Mokoto's tone. "I didn't know you liked younger boys. Do you want to date him next?"

Hao didn't know what was going on, but he did not like to see Mokoto flustered, which was what she probably felt now.

"Can you stop it, she doesn't like it?" Hao asked, not knowing what to say.

"Oh, now the twerp wants to defend her? Such a befitting couple." Ashiru said.

Before Hao knew what was happening. He was picked up by the front of his shirt and slammed against the tree. The bird flew off in shock and Mokoto went into action, pulling Ashiru away and punching him in the face.

"What did you do that for?" Mokoto asked angrily.

Ashiru just smirked and rubbed the bruise that was beginning to form on his face. Then he went up to Hao, who was still a little disoriented.

"I'm going to tell you this, twerp. Don't ever cross my path again, or I'm going to do the same thing." He said threateningly before walking off.

Hao stood up shakily just as his mother came down the path.

"Hao, there you are. I've been looking for you." Then she noticed him wince from the pain in his back. "Hao, are you alright?" When she received no answer, she turned to Mokoto. "What happened?"

"He got slammed into the tree by one of the older boys."

Kyomi's eyes narrowed. "I'll tell the teachers about it. Hao, are you alright? Let's go home so I can help you hurt less."

"I'll tell the teachers." Mokoto offered.

Kyomi picked Hao up and turned to Mokoto. "I thank you for the trouble then. For telling the teachers and taking care of my son. My name is Kyomi, feel free to find me when you need help."

"Mine's Mokoto." Mokoto replied as Kyomi turned to walk down the path.

Pika318: This is what I have for now. For those who asked (Redleef), I'm going to concentrate on his first life, since I'm not interested in his second and they already shown his third in the manga and anime. But I might include a few miscellaneous chapters if any inspiration comes to me.