The Reason
Tori: Well I am glad that you all are enjoying my story, if a bit slow… But I am trying to get better.
As days passed, the residents of Funbari onsen fell into a routine of sorts. The people old or young enough went to school with Yoh and Hao. While Opacho (seeing as she is the only one too young) and the adults stayed and did various chores or went to temporary jobs to bring in money. That is, until Hao finally cornered Yoh.
"You need to train," four words were spoken, but the silence that followed was deafening. For his part, Yoh blinked… then said the only thing that he could.
"Why?" Hao smacked his forehead.
"First off, now that you know the truth about the Asakuras, they will be out to try and erase my existence from your mind again, if not outright kill you. Second, Tao Ren is part of one of the strongest shaman families in China, who has an inane grudge against you. Third, you still have to prepare for the shaman fight… or have you forgotten the whole reason for coming to Tokyo?"
Yoh sighed. He knew his aniki was right about everything, but he just didn't want to train. Even though he despised any form of working out, he still reluctantly nodded his head in understanding. He felt if he refused, it would hurt Hao's feelings.
"I understand nii-san, when do you want to start?" Hao smiled in relief, afraid his otouto would protest in front of everyone.
"Tomorrow morning, we will get up at four, run three miles, come back to get the smell of sweat washed off us, and then head to school. Oh and both of us will wear weights to build muscle. I think that is a small start. I don't want to push you too hard yet," Yoh was twitching a little.
"Aniki is coming too? I thought it was my training,"
"Just because you need the training doesn't mean I can't. I thought I would come with you, so you wouldn't be alone," Hao contemplated something for a moment, and then turned to Manta, "Perhaps you should come too. Maybe a little exercise will be good for you. How about it?"
All eyes turned to the small teen. He looked like he was seriously thinking, "Why me?"
Hao smiled, "I don't know, maybe it would be a good experience for you. I thought since you wanted to know more about shamans this would be something important to do,"
A pause, "You know what, I think I will. I have one question though: Can I stay in one of the rooms here? I can pay for it, but I think if I am going to be running with you, I will need to stay here to do that,"
Both brothers nodded in understanding, seeing what he was getting at. Yoh smiled at him.
"When do you want to move in?"
So with a new addition to the household, everything was back to normal again. The three boys would get up early in the morning to exercise, while the girls prepared breakfast. Opacho would go with the boys to give them water and make sure none of them pass out. While the adults got ready to go on to their various jobs. A pattern of sorts that everyone gradually fell into.
That is until on one of their jogs, Manta suggested to watch a movie marathon at the movie theater for a day on Lee Pailong[1], the Hong Kong martial arts actor. At first the older twin outright refused. Then Yoh gave him the puppy dog eyes and he knew he was going to regret agreeing to it.
Hao repeatedly asked himself how he got himself into this…Then glanced at the source of his problem. The three foot boy watched the movie screen blissfully unaware of the murderous intent building behind him. Yoh watched as the kung-fu movie took a climactic turn and was excited to see who would win in the battle. Hao felt he had to laugh at his Otooto's antics. Sighing in defeat, he didn't mind sitting through the marathon as long as Yoh was happy.
By the time the movie marathon was over, it was already dark out.
"Lee Pailong is so cool! He kicks butt and brings justice to the world!" Manta ranted aimlessly. Amidamaru was just as excited, considering that was the first time for him to see a movie before. He thought that is was amazing for so much to happen in so little time.
Hao watched Yoh's eyes sparkled serenely as he stared up into the evening sky…then widen in shock. A silhouette appeared above Yoh intent upon doing harm, but the young brunette dodged in the nick of time to avoid a potentially lethal fist.
Meanwhile, Hao's attention was diverted to the figure of a young woman emerging from the shadows in a qipao [2]. It was when the man stood next to the older teen that they knew they were working together.
"Asakura Yoh, I have come to claim your samurai ghost,"
Manta gasped as he looked at the figure next to the girl, "That is Lee Pailong! He is supposed to be dead!" Everyone's attention focused on the man now identified as the ex-movie star, then back to the woman Yoh spoke.
"I am sorry Ma'am, but I do not know you," he said bluntly.
To that comment, the woman glared, "You may not know me, but you know my brother Tao Ren. I, his older sister, Tao Jun, have come to take your ghost for him,"
Before Yoh could even find a retort, the martial artist launched himself at him again. Everyone else watched as Yoh was hit with a rocket kick into the air, than another back into the ground, smashing against a trash can. Hao, too distracted by seeing his Otooto injured didn't notice Manta run off to find Yoh a weapon. The older twin tried to occupy the woman, so that she wouldn't attack again.
"Why do you have Lee Pailong, Daoist?" he asked.
She glanced in his direction, "I see you know what I am. Our family is given strong ghosts at a young age to train with. Lee Pailong [3] was a present to me for my birthday. My family thought he would be the perfect emotionless puppet for me to have,"
"You're wrong, all spirits have emotions," all eyes turned to Yoh struggling to stand up, "Your talismans may control his body, but it will never control his heart,"
"Nonsense! He can't feel a thing-" she turned to emphasize a point, only to see him crying, "What? That is impossible, puppets have no feelings!"
Yoh had a cocky grin on his face, "Just wait Lee Pailong, I will free you,"
Manta desperately went from building to building trying to find somewhere with a boken, to help Yoh fight with.
Hao winced at the punch in the gut Yoh received, and was using all of his will power not to step in and intervene. His Otooto needed to learn to fight his own battles, but that didn't stop him from worrying for his safety.
Coming around another corner, Manta still couldn't find a store open. Just when he was about to give up, he found one sitting next to a motorcycle [4]. Grabbing it he got ready to go back to Yoh, when the doors of the convenience store opened. His eyes grew wide when Bokuto no Ryu stepped out with his gang.
The look on Ryu's face spoke of shock, then anger. In an instant, Manta was surrounded by his gang. Surveying his surroundings, Manta realized the only way to get through was to wait until someone charged him. He clenched his eyes shut, preparing for the onslaught.
The first to strike was a boy wearing a hoodie jacket, and as if on cue, all others began to punch and kick the small figure as well. Ryu watched idly and noticed that as the boy was being attacked, he never let the sword go. Something in him told him to let the boy go.
"Enough," his gang slowly stopped hitting Manta, "Just this once, I will let you go, since whatever it is you need the sword for is this important. So before I change my mind, go and do it," Manta nodded once and took off toward Yoh.
Upon arriving, he found his friend unconscious on the ground. He ran over to him and sat down to see if he was ok.
"Yoh-kun, I found a weapon for you to use. So please wake up," blurry brown eyes cracked, then snapped open.
"Manta…you are covered in injuries…what happened?"
The young boy grinned, "I got you a boken, and I hope that will work against Lee Pa-"
While they were talking Jun took the initiative to have the Daodando [5] user attack Yoh while he was down. The next thing Yoh knew, Manta flew backwards and landed with a sickening thud against a building. He did not get back up.
Yoh slowly turned his head in his fallen friends' direction and felt something snap. Jun took an unconscious step back from the boy who felt completely different then before. Hao cursed under his breath and ran to Manta to check and see if he was seriously hurt, then turned to his Otooto, knowing if he didn't do something, he would seriously hurt himself. Lee Pailong never saw the boken coming.
The younger twin flew at the martial artist with such an abandon on his anger the man could not get the time to block properly. His eyes were completely void of life.
Manta slowly regained consciousness only to see his friend fighting like an animal. The elder twin helped him to his feet again.
"We need to stop him," the small boy had never seen him so serious.
"What has happened to him?" he responded.
"Seeing you get hurt caused a break in the memory block, but it only released his inhibitions and anger,"
Yoh landed in front of Jun with his eyes still unfocused.
"What's wrong little girl? Feeling uneasy? Your little doll not doing it for you?" everyone watched him as he spoke.
"How do you know about this?" Manta asked.
"Because, it has happened before, thanks to the Asakuras," the blonde haired boy stared at his friend in wonder.
Meanwhile, Yoh looked over at Lee Pailong, who was standing around waiting for orders, "Ah…and you poor soul. I don't you even know you are dead. All your crying goes unnoticed to this little Daoist user. Tsk tsk, shame on you for causing so much pain to this spirit who can obviously still feel. However shall we solve this?" he looked like he was contemplating something, "Oh! I know just the thing. Why doesn't Miss Daoist tell you why she used you?"
He noticed Jun looked scared, "I-I was always told by my father that spirits had no feelings and were only used best for tools. I thought it was alright for him to be my protector, if he couldn't feel any emotions," she looked at the tears still coming out of the martial artist, "Why would my family lie to me?"
Yoh laughed at that, "All families lie. Just take a look at my oh so caring family that blocked my memories, so that I would kill my own twin brother for them," his eyes hardened a little, "What they didn't expect was me breaking the block naturally. I may not remember everything right now, but I know that I hate them. Soon, when I remember everything, I will relish in the death of every Asakura!"
Letting out a short laugh again, he gave his full attention to Lee Pailong and sighed, "I do hope knowing this won't upset you too much,"
The talisman began to dissolve and he calmly walked over to Jun, "It was not your fault. You didn't know. Because of that, I would like to stay by your side to have the chance to master my Daodando. Will you allow me to?"
Jun blinked for a second then broke down crying in his arms, "Yes," repeatedly.
For the second time, Hao saw Yoh's old smile directed toward him. But then it faltered, "Aniki, I am remembering but it is not yet time for me to remember everything. Only because of the seal breaking a little am I too know this. When I wake up, I will remember what has happened tonight, but nothing that hasn't come back naturally. Have patience," he smiled again, "It was nice seeing you this way again Aniki,"
Closing his eyes he blacked out from exhaustion. Hao ran over to his Otooto and checked to make sure he was alright. He then looked at Manta, "Normally you would be dead for putting my Otooto in harms way at this marathon, but since you are his friend and the knowledge of Lee helped in the end, I thank you. All I request in return is a dinner prepared for Yoh and I when we return," he sighed, "At least he got some good fighting experience out of this. Let's go and get you and Otooto patched up at home. Luchist was always good at healing people,"
Hao slung Yoh's arm over his shoulder, and Manta got on the other side to support the rest of his weight. Amidamaru drifted behind watching quietly.
Elsewhere Jun returned to the hotel room where Ren was. He took one look at her and knew that she lost.
"He is a formidable opponent, is he not?" he asked.
Jun looked at Lee, and then at her younger brother, "He is scary and violent. If he was really himself, I would have been dead without him even trying. It is no wonder you lost to him. If he is that strong not knowing who he is, I fear for what his brother is like, who sits back and watches everything,"
Ren looked up at that, "Yes, his brother intrigues me. Not as much as Yoh, but I would still like to see his power too,"
The first thing Yoh noticed was that he was hurting all over. Next was that he felt sick for acting the way he did. Where had that come from? On some level though, he feared himself because he liked it.
Getting up he wobbled his way out of his room, downstairs, to see a bandaged Manta setting up the table with the help of Mari. He sat down and looked over to his friend.
"How are you feeling?"
Manta looked up, "Oh much better. Luchist is really good at healing injuries. I thought he was scary at first, but then we got to talking and he is actually really nice,"
Yoh smiled, "That is good to hear. So what are we having for dinner?"
"Sukiyaki. The girls decided since it was getting cold, something warm would be good,"
Yoh felt relieved that his friend was getting along with everyone so well with everyone. Just then, Hao walked in with Opacho behind him.
"Ah Yoh, good just in time for dinner. How are you feeling?"
"A little sore, but I will be fine," he said while rubbing his shoulder.
Hao sighed in relief, "That is great to hear. I was worried about you Otooto. You got knocked around real bad by Lee Pailong. I am just glad you are safe,"
Yoh smiled, "You should know by now Aniki, that it will take a little more then a few punches to finish me,"
At this point the rest of the residents had begun to file into the room as food was placed on the table. Hao sat down and drank from his cup of tea. Everyone in the room was happy and joking around. The warmth could be felt.
Yoh's face darkened. He wondered what he would be like if he had never me Hao and was a slave to the Asakuras. He looked around and realized he could and would kill if people threatened to take away his happiness.
+++++++++Hao ran out of his tent to see his otouto covered in blood. He ran over to Yoh only to see him turn around with a smile on his face.
"Aniki, the men came here to hurt you. But I would not let them pass. Did I do good?"
Looking at the bloody mess everywhere, Hao sighed, "Yes, you did well. If you had not killed them, they would have tried to hurt many other people,"
Yoh's eyes widened, "Then I saved a lot of people! Aniki, they thought I was you, but I showed them that they were wrong. Aniki is much nicer than me,"
The older twin muttered under his breath, "No one is nicer than you Yoh," ++++++
"I will not let this be destroyed," Yoh whispered to himself.
He then went back to enjoying the meal with everyone else. Hao smiled at seeing Yoh relax enough to finally enjoy himself. He felt that it was a good end to the day.
Tori: Hey I updated! As you can see, this is the longest chapter by far. Thanks for the reviews and to continue reading my story. I know that Ryu and Horo Horo didn't make it to this chapter, but I wasn't planning to end it like this, but you know how stories get a mind of their own after a while. But I promise that next chapter will have them both ok? Now I have some things that I myself can not decide on. So I was hoping that you would be able to give me your opinion. Sooo…..
First: Should Lyserg join Yoh's group, or the X-Laws?
To go with the first: Should the X-Laws hate Yoh and Hao, or the Asakuras?
One that has been bugging me: Should Yoh's parents be supporting their son's or the Asakuras?
[1]- I have personally seen about twelve different ways to spell his name, I like this one, so if you have a problem, sorry.
[2]- Qipao is what Jun's dress is called.
[3]- I feel weird just calling him Lee or just Pailong, so I tried not to repeat it so much.
[4]- Ok, I really wanted to give this an entirely different feel, while still feeling like Shaman King, so I altered the rest of the battle significantly. If you read this before finishing the chapter this is a spoiler. I did have Anna to bring in the old ghost, so I felt I would give it my own touch, but as you can see later, I kind of improvised a new Itako.
[5]- I needed to make a reference to his style of fighting at least once, or it would bug me.
Tori: Anyway, I am having trouble deciding, so if you have an answer could you kind of explain why? Thanks and I will try to update soon again. As always, please review… I want to try and reach fifty reviews. This is the longest story I have been working on and want to see it hit the fifty mark. Thank you.
