Author's notes: Hello, I'm back… after 10 years HAHA. I stumbled upon my fanfiction account one day and I read through all of my stories and the reviews that you guys left… I'm not sure if many people are still on anymore but I think I should at least try to finish up this story. I should mention that this story is based on my idea 10 years ago, so it's not related to the shaman king 2021 version. That said, do check out the Shaman King remake! It's really good.

I'll try to continue this story as much as I can. Thank you!

Yoh woke up from his short nap.

"Man I just had the craziest dream.." he muttered to himself before he paused. Instinctively his hands reached out to his chest. His eyes widened when he saw the flame mark.

It's not a dream…

Yoh remained where he was for a short while, trying to make out what had happened a moment ago. A curse? No. Hao's definitely lying. There was no way such a lame curse existed. 5 kisses and he belongs to Hao? What kind of nonsense is this?

"…yoh"

And, who even tries to take over another person through such a method? It doesn't make any sense. This doesn't feel like the Asakura Hao that he knew from the fight. This doesn't feel like the Asakura Hao that he had defeated. This doesn't feel like the Asakura Hao that ripped his soul right out from his body.

"…yoh…are…"

Something's definitely off. The kiss felt… gentle. It was hard to explain. Hao may have forced the kiss but it felt… gentle at the same time. What's going on? Yoh had so many questions. He didn't understand what Hao meant by "I did it for you", he didn't understand anything at all. But what he knew was that, he needed to behave as though nothing had happened, as he knew that his friends were worried about him, and the last thing he needed was his friends hovering over him, bombarding him with questions.

SLAP*

"huh?"

Yoh snapped out of his thoughts. Or more accurately, he was slapped out of his thoughts. In front of him was Anna. Despite having landed a hard smack on his face, Anna held a nonchalant expression.

"How dare you sleep outside when I've prepared a nice bed for you at home," She commented coldly.

"Sorry Anna, I fell asleep outside,"

Anna gave Yoh a quick scan. She focused on Yoh's chest area for a short while before returning to Yoh's eyes.

"Let's go back"

"Sure Anna. Thanks for coming to pick me up,"

Anna blushed slightly at the comment.

"I'd be grateful if you'd stop causing me trouble," she muttered slightly before walking off.

Yoh exhaled loudly. Despite everything that happened, he's happy that he has his friends and Anna with him. Asakura Hao or whatnot, he is definitely not afraid of him.

I've defeated him once and I can do it again.

Yoh gave himself a mental pat on the back before following Anna back home.

...

The next day, Yoh returned to his burnt down house. While Anna was nice to him last night, she gave him strict orders to clear the debris of the burnt house and to repair it as much as he is able to. Yoh glanced around and recalled the red stone that he had found, which led him to recall the curse, as well as the kiss that Hao gave him. Yoh blushed at the thought and shook his head vigorously, trying to forget.

"I don't know what's going on but I guess thinking about it's not going to work out. Everything will turn out okay in the end so no point pondering over it I guess." He thought aloud.

"Yoh-kun?"

Yoh turned back. It was Manta.

"Yo, Manta."

"I thought I'd find you here. What are you doing?"

"Anna told me to clean this place up and fix the house,"

Manta gave a facepalm. "Couldn't she have called someone else to do this? You were attacked here! We don't even know of it's safe for you to be here!"

Yoh chuckled slightly. "Don't worry Manta. I'm sure it's safe here. Nothing will-"

BOOOOM*

Even before Yoh finished his sentence, an explosion happened right where Yoh and Manta were at. Fortunately, Yoh had managed to, in that split second, push Manta out of harm's way but in turn, he was severely injured.

"YOH-KUN!"

Yoh tried to get up. "..A…Amidamaru"

However, Amidamaru was nowhere to be seen.

"M..manta?"

Yoh glanced back. Manta was not there anymore.

"what..?" Yoh's eyes widened. He was in a different place, seemingly like a pocket dimension. Almost like he was being trapped somewhere.

"Just stay down, Asakura Yoh. And no one will get hurt." Came a voice. It sounded like it came from outside of wherever he was. Yoh tried to get up, but he couldn't move. He was in pain from the explosion and he was feeling extremely confused, he couldn't calm down.

"Who are you!" Yoh shouted out in exasperation.

But there was no reply. Yoh suddenly felt himself unable to breathe well. His consciousness slipping away from him. Before his eyes closed, Yoh felt warm flames engulfing him. Someone then picked him up.

"I really can't leave you alone now, can I?"

It feels warm…

"but I guess this works for me"

Yoh felt something... someone's lips pressed against his.

Is someone kissing me?

Yoh forced his eyes open, and came face to face with Hao. Hao was carrying him, and the room was filled with flames.

"…3 more to go. You're making this far too easy." Hao laughed.

Yoh did not manage to reply. He fainted soon after, and Hao's laughter slowly faded away.

...

Yoh opened his eyes. He found himself in another room, with flowers and fruits.

"Is this a hospital or is this Ren's house now?" he laughed to himself.

"Yoh-kun…"

Manta looked at Yoh worriedly. Yoh smiled at his friend. "Manta, I'm so glad that you're okay."

"Thank you for saving me Yoh-kun.." Manta trailed off.

Yoh raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay Manta?"

Manta looked at Yoh with tears in his eyes. "I saw Hao. He came to save you."

Yoh flinched a little at Hao's name, but remained composed. "Did he do anything to you?"

Manta shook his head. "I saw him kill the person who attacked us. It was a young male holding a blue rock. After he died, Hao walked right into an empty space and he returned, carrying you in his arms.. and he asked me.." Manta sniffed and hesitated. Yoh grew concerned.

"What did he say?"

Manta sniffed once more.

"He asked me…"

Yoh leaned in, listening intently.

"HE ASKED ME IF I WAS OKAY AND IF I COULD BRING YOU TO THE HOSPITAL" Manta blurted out.

Yoh blinked. "Huh what?"

"The fearful, human-hating Asakura Hao just asked ME if I'm okay! And he asked me to bring you to the hospital, it was a good time for him to eat your soul or something at that point but he didn't!"

Yoh made a face. "Do you want him to eat my soul, Manta? -_-"

Manta immediately caught himself. "NO THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!."

Yoh laughed at his friend's reaction. Manta huffed.

"Yoh-kun.." Manta said softly, "The way Hao showed concern over you was a bit…. Different than how he was last time."

Yoh looked intently at a wall.

"Manta… to be honest, I'm as confused as you are. The whole situation is confusing me and I don't know what to make out of everything. I just want to lead a happy life but I guess a large part of my life is just being in hospitals now and It's really troublesome" Yoh laughed.

"Yoh-kun, I feel that things are just going to be more complicated now. You have to share with us whatever you're feeling and whatever's happening to you okay? We're all very very worried."

"Okay Manta."

"you promise?"

Yoh smiled a bit.

"Yes Manta, I promise. Thank you for being here,"

...

Hao walked back to his camp and sat down silently. Staring at the campfire in front of him, He thought about the curse that he had given his younger brother. He smirked to himself as he thought about his kiss with Yoh. He pondered over the young male that he had killed that afternoon, and whether they were a new organisation that sprouted from nowhere, attempting to kill him once more. But none of that mattered to him. In a span of 2 days, he had already given Yoh 2 kisses. Just 3 more to go before Yoh belongs to Hao.

"I can't wait for the day you become mine, Yoh…" he crooned softly, as his lips curled into a smirk.