The Reason
Tori: I feel bad for the underhanded tactics, but I really wanted some reviews. It is like my life blood. Well, this is not a teaser, it is the real deal. I hope you enjoy… And as always, if you want to see more, I had better see reviews (no threat intended). Sorry again for taking so long, but this time it is not my fault! My computer literally died and I lost absolutely everything. But after many weeks of cursing and recovering I got all my stuff back, so I hope you enjoy.
The next day found Yoh, Hao, and Manta making their way towards a tea shop, looking to relax. Manta had every intention of sticking close to find out more on the mysterious shamans before him. He was curious as to how they were able to merge their souls with ghosts. For what purpose did they do it, what could be gained?
Looking up and seeing Yoh so happy made a smile involuntarily come to his face. He ran up to meet them, shaking his head of his thoughts for now, deciding it would be better to ask some other time. The three sat at a window booth, joking and talking about general things. Hao turned his head in time to see a blue haired boy slice a truck in half. His only indication of caring was the slight raising of his eyebrows. Panic ensued when the explosion took place.
As debris crashed into the building, everyone fled for their lives. Yoh stopped outside to look at the boy still standing there. Hao and Manta came up beside him.
"That was not necessary. Why did you do that?" Yoh asked as he made his way closer to the boy, feeling strength from him.
The brunette dodged to the left as the kwan-do came zooming towards his head. Hao watched intently, not wanting to interrupt his brother's fight. Amidamaru appeared behind Yoh with a worried look on his face.
"Yoh-dono, do you require my assistance?" the samurai asked as he eyed the other boy with apprehension.
"Yes Asakura Yoh, get that samurai's help," all heads toward the boy as he spoke for the first time, his Chinese accent heavy.
Yoh eyed him warily, "How do you know my name?"
The boy actually snorted in amusement, "How? You, who are the only son of the most famous and powerful shamans in Japan… Who until a year ago has been bedridden with a disease, which presumably they found a cure for if you are up and about. By that extent you were given the task to find strong spirit allies, so have set out on a journey beginning in Tokyo. Did I miss anything?"
The twins blink a couple of times, and then promptly burst into laughter. They laughed so hard; they had to hold on to each other for support. Manta also was chuckling to himself as he watched the boy get more and more angry.
"What do you think you are laughing at?" the boy bristled at the two taking everything so lightly.
First of the two to calm down, was Hao, "Where did you get your information? One, hello my name is Asakura Hao and I am the first born of the main branch of the Asakuras. Two, we have been living together until a year ago, when the Asakuras kidnapped my otouto after using dirty tactics. And three, his journey began years ago, with me. Was that everything?"
The blue haired shaman did a good impression of a fish for a few seconds before recovering his composure. "T-Then I suppose an introduction should be in order then," he straightened himself up and set his kwan-do upright, "My name is Tao Ren and my spirit guardian is the Chinese warlord Bason. I have been charged with the task of finding, challenging, and defeating you Asakura Yoh. I need as many powerful spirits as possible so that I can purify the world when I become Shaman King. Asakura Hao I have no quarrels with you, my only desire is to fight with your brother," Hao nodded his consent.
Yoh sighed, just knowing that someone was going to get hurt. Grabbing a nearby pipe on the ground, the younger Asakura proceeded to oversoul with Amidamaru. Both got into fighting stance and began to circle each other. Hao backed up to where Manta was to and waited, watching so that no serious damage is done to Yoh.
A piece of glass from a broken window fell to the ground shattering the silence and the two boys lunged at each other. Metal collided with metal as the two met in a parry. Hao's eyes watched intently. Manta looked on in wonder as the battle unfolded before his eyes. He could see both the two boys fighting and the battle between the samurai and warlord. Neither gave the other the chance for an advantage.
When Yoh suddenly fell to his knees, Hao grabbed a hold of Manta's shoulder to stop himself from running over to his injured brother. Manta's eyes focused on the older Asakura in silent understanding. Ren meanwhile, calmly approached the fallen Yoh.
"You can not hope to beat me. I have reached Hyuoi-Gattai one hundred percent. You failed with your pitiful thinking of ghosts being friends. They are merely tools to achieve an end," Yoh slowly stood up.
++++++++Yohmei threw Yoh to the ground, "You have this ridiculous notion to make all these ghosts your friends. They are just tools with no purpose but to help you achieve an end,"
Yoh turned his head toward his grandfather, "It is you who doesn't understand. A ghost is a soul of a person. They lived lives just like us. We have no right to call them nothing but tools if they were once living beings. They can choose whether or not to help us, because they can think for themselves. Nothing you can say can change that,"
Yohmei's face twisted with rage and he went on to punch to small body before him repeatedly to teach him a lesson…++++++
Yoh looked up at Ren with so much contempt that the boy actually took a step back in fear. The Asakura's voice was rough when he spoke, "Amidamaru my friend, let us show him we are more than a tool and a master,"
Changing his stance, he heard Manta in the distance make a surprised noise.
"Amida-Ryuu Gokoujin,"
Ren got shredded as blood and clothed flew everywhere. He fell to the ground unconscious. Blood sprayed from Yoh shoulder as he too fell to the ground. Without hesitation, Hao ran to his side. Ren's kwan-do had clipped Yoh's shoulder in defending himself from the attack.
Hao picked Yoh up and proceeded to walk toward the ones to heal his otouto. He had waited for the battle to finish, and had not interfered, but he would not stand by with his brother injured. Not anymore.
Manta followed behind worryingly, hoping his friend would be all right. The crowd that had gathered to watch the spectacle had separated when Hao went by with his brother in his arms. They knew when it was a good time to avoid danger.
Upon arriving home, Hao immediately took Yoh to his room, and Manta followed behind. Due to Manta's father owning a hospital, he knew how to dress Yoh's wounds. The small boy had to forcibly remove the older twin from the room, since Hao was crowding Yoh too much and Manta couldn't properly treat him that way. Sighing, Manta proceeded to remove Yoh's shirt to clean the boy's shoulder. He saw that the cut had been clean, so it would be easier to fix. After washing off the excess blood, he began to stitch the shoulder back up and put some disinfectant on it. Once that was done, he wrapped it with a bandage and went to let the older twin in, to find that he had disappeared.
Hao was at the campsite with his followers. He looked at each and every one of them with a determined face.
"Today, an unexpected thing happened. My brother was attacked by someone preparing for the Shaman Fight. I thought we would have more time to prepare for it when it came, but I was mistaken. Now is not the time for hiding like this. I want you all to stay at the onsen, so that there are more people to defend my otouto, while he is trying to gain back his memories. Is anyone in disagreement?"
Looking around, none showed any sign of objecting. Hao smiled, knowing he had chosen well with whom to have following him.
Manta was in the kitchen preparing something for Yoh to eat when he heard the door open. He went over to greet Hao, when he saw a whole bunch of people behind him coming in as well.
"Who are they?" asked the short boy.
"These are my followers. They will stay here as well to help protect Yoh from any threats. Matilda, Kanna, and Marion will help you with making dinner for everyone," the three girls pouted but went to the kitchen none the less, "I think you can get associated yourself. I do not wish to be disturbed,"
Silently, Hao went up to where Yoh was. Everyone looked to Manta, "Um, so yeah…take off your shoes before coming in, and go relax in the den. When we are done, I will call for you. And one of you will take some food to Hao and Yoh. Thank you," the boy retreated to the food again, and proceeded to tell the girls what was being made.
Much later after Manta spent dinner getting to know everyone and finding out that none of them were bad, just rough around the edges. Manta found that he liked the company of Opacho the most. The little girl was kind to him and helped him with cleaning. She was very smart for a six year old and knew how to take care of herself. And she shared the same worry for the twins. After what had happened after dinner was finished.
Hao smiled at his sleeping brother. It was a long day for the both of them. The Asakuras had the audacity to send some horrible little girl claiming to be Yoh's fiancé. The situation seemed fine, until she slapped him. Something….happened to Yoh… It was like he was a completely different person. Now Hao knew Yoh had an affinity for controlling water more then the other elements. What he saw happen though was not what he was expecting.
In the instant that she had slapped him, he had grabbed her wrist. Of course Hao remembered their conversation years ago about how if Yoh tried he could suck the water right out of someone. Until that moment the elder twin had never seen it done.
The girl's hand turned shriveled and dry when he grabbed it. His eyes were like deep pools of hatred. Even the way he stood seemed imposing and threatening. Yoh had whispered something to her and she had run away, her hand returning to normal when he let go. When the younger brunette turned to face Hao he smiled a smile the older shaman hadn't seen in over a year.
++++"Aniki did you see? The water trick worked! Maybe that'll teach the Asakuras to quit bugging us for a while!" +++++
It was just for a moment, but Hao felt the old Yoh starting to come out again underneath the memory block. Though, after he had said that, he promptly fell backwards into a dead faint.
The older twin was both happy for his otouto, and worried. He was afraid that the block wouldn't come off fast enough. But he sighed and decided that maybe it would be best to get some rest and worry about it in the morning. Climbing underneath the comforter next Yoh, he fell asleep curled around his other half with a contented smile.
Tori: And that is the end of that, if I get four reviews, then I will update quicker. Just kidding, I am already working on the next chapter. I hope to see reviews though. Next will be meeting Ryu, Jun, and Horo Horo…I hope you are excited!
