Sorry it's a day late (Shaami at least I know will be spitting feathers for the delay). Hope you enjoy!
Cringable was really the only word to describe it, even if that was probably a made up word rather than a real one. The fact that Horohoro had suggested it in the first place was bad enough but that Anna had actually agreed to it? There was absolutely no way that he was going to get involved in something like that. Yes he was laid-back and easy going, but that was well beyond any realm he was happy to play in. He needed a fool-proof excuse to get out of the situation and he needed one fast.
"That's really too bad, but Yoh and I aren't going to be able to make it to you repugnant idea of a gathering." Ren stated tetchily, much to Yoh's surprise and relief.
"Really?" Anna snapped. "And why is that exactly?"
"Because we'll be in China. We have an appointment with a sage, it's a once in a life time experience."
"Then we can come to yours and have the party there." Horohoro stated.
Ren growled. "I never said we were going to mine, though either way you idiots aren't welcome there. It's a private affair which is not going to be ruined by a bunch of ingrates. Have your party on the mouth of an active volcano and fall into it, do the world a favour. Other places to be or not, neither of us has any will to be involved in such idiosyncratic foolishness."
Yoh cringed slightly at Ren's comment but said nothing. Yes he thought Ren was being a little too harsh (not that that was unusual), but he couldn't disagree with what was said. He really didn't want anything to do with it and if Ren had found something out, or really had found someone who might be able to help...
As more snarky comments hailed forth, Ren grabbed Yoh by the arm and dragged him outside. Once again Yoh heralded no resistance; it was far too late to be arguing, especially over something so stupid. He didn't care what Anna threatened him with, he was absolutely under no circumstances going to do it. His pride might not be an encumbrance like Ren's but he did still have his pride and that definitely went against it.
"Idiots..." Ren muttered and Yoh found himself nodding in agreement before he realised what he was doing and stopped.
"I can't believe either of them, though I guess it's embarrassing for us rather than her, so maybe that was the point, to enjoy humiliating us..." Yoh stated quietly, not really sure that he should be making such a comment.
"Wouldn't surprise me...sadistic bitch."
Yoh bit his tongue to stop himself responding, he didn't really want to get into an argument with Ren, least of all when he had just been rescued from an unpleasant fate by the boy. "So, were you serious, or were you making it up?"
"We are going to China, though to speak to Jun. Whether we speak to anyone else who may or may not have more knowledge of certain events depends on how lucky Jun has been."
Yoh nodded his acknowledgement but didn't comment any further on the matter. Right now he was more concerned over what they were supposed to do at present. He wanted to curl up for the night but he wasn't overly convinced they could go back without world war three starting. Of course, Anna would have his head if he didn't go back anyway, it was usually a lose-lose situation where she was concerned.
Ren had left them for a few hours earlier in the day, claiming their childish behaviour was unbecoming but he had never given it a thought that the other was leaving to look into what they had discussed that morning. That was probably an over-sight on his part, since Ren normally put up with anything that Yoh would. Regardless of how much things annoyed him, Ren always stood by Yoh.
It was nice to have someone you knew you could count on; especially when said person was quite happy to rescue you from something you didn't want to do but were worried about upsetting people by saying so. Ren had a habit of being far too blunt and harshly spoken but everyone expected that from him, so it was never really taken particularly offensively.
"It all seems so strange now…" Yoh murmured softly, barely aware that he'd spoken.
"What does?" Ren asked.
"Hm? Oh, nothing in particular, life in general, past and present."
"I suppose a lot has changed and a lot is going on. Everything is okay though, right?"
"Yeah, right now, everything is just fine. There will be problems when the time comes, but I'll worry about that then. For now, I just want to enjoy this."
Ren nodded and turned his attention back to the path they were walking along. It was nice and peaceful, away from the buzzing city. It wasn't far enough away from the lights to stop any toning down of the night sky, but the view of the stars wasn't completely obliterated by the large neon lights. That was the problem with city life, one lost touch with nature, both its power and beauty.
Yoh yawned, it was late and he had used a lot of energy playing around and being 'trained' all day. He was tired, but more than that he had other things he wanted to be doing. It was always exciting to see the new changes that had occurred over the day, though of course, now there was the wonder of whether Hao would be waiting for him as well.
He didn't really want to get too excited by the prospect, since Hao hadn't specified when he would visit again but he couldn't help hoping that his brother wouldn't keep him waiting for too long. It was strange to want to see him after everything that had happed but a connection had definitely formed, for him at least.
"Thinking about someone you shouldn't be?" Ren asked softly.
Yoh glanced over, noting the soft yet amused expression on Ren's face. "Might be I guess."
Ren cocked an eyebrow at the reply and shook his head. "I suppose we should head back, it's getting late so if we're lucky the idiots may have gone to bed already."
Yoh nodded, quite happy to follow that idea. Sleeping was definitely something he wanted to do, losing a chance to go to his world was not an idea he relished. He knew Ren wasn't really sure what to think about his obvious enthusiasm for going and staying there, without Hao being involved in it as well, but so far he had chosen to trust Yoh's judgement.
He supposed it was probably unsettling to see all the changes in him, to see everything without any masks in place. He knew in himself that things were different, so it must be difficult for someone else to see, especially without the understanding as to why thing were different or if it was really safe to be tied into such things so strongly.
Hao was a concern to them and after everything they had been through, they had every right to see him as such, so he couldn't really blame Ren for being worried. Yoh didn't know himself why he felt so strongly about being close to Hao, why he needed to talk to him so badly and form a better relationship between them, so he could hardly explain to Ren, let alone appease his disquiet.
He had grown too quickly to understand everything that had happened along the way, but he knew that things had changed and that he could help Hao and that was good enough. The chance to put a stop to the never-ending cycle of pain was enough to be enthusiastic about. Yes he knew he probably shouldn't think about Hao as much as he did, but even if no one else could understand, they were always bound to be important to each other.
It always felt like there was something missing when I was growing up, which I guess is probably part of the reason I tried so hard to be friends with everyone. I didn't want to feel lonely and if I was surrounded by people I couldn't be. That wasn't true though, there was always that feeling there and I never understood why.
When I joined with Hao that feeling dissipated and I finally understood that the hole I had always felt was because I was missing a part of myself. I don't mean that I think he and I are meant to be the same, I don't believe that, but it made me appreciate that the only way I would feel whole was if Hao was part of my life.
Of course, the choice I had to make was that the longing was to remain with me for the rest of my life because I had to stop Hao. If we've both been given a second chance, a chance to make amends and learn to understand each other, why shouldn't I be ecstatic? This is something I've always longed for.
Yoh received a reproachful glance from Anna when they walked in but he was otherwise ignored. Ren left his side immediately and headed through the downstairs of the onsen. Yoh sighed and headed upstairs but instead of going to the shared room, he entered a much smaller, relatively unused room. He wanted some privacy tonight and had every intention of forgoing usual 'bedtime rituals' in favour of crashing immediately.
He knew that it would raise questions, since he was usually so sociable but he was relatively sure he could blag his way through, after all everyone, no matter who they were, felt the need to be alone sometimes. Either way, he would just have to deal with it, especially given there was probably a lot more of it to come.
He had a lot of training to do as well, which had been harder to fit in over the last week. It didn't really help that ideally he needed to do it alone during the daytime, since that made it rather more difficult to do. If he did it at night when everyone was sleeping though, he missed out on sleep and tending to other matters.
He had to make the time for it though, no matter what. He had to find a way to block the reishi and teach it to Hao, as he had promised. That was the only way to help Hao and keep him as he had seen him in there; otherwise he would just end up being ruled by hatred again. That was the last thing Yoh wanted, so he had to make sure it didn't happen.
I suppose it wouldn't hurt to do a little training now, I am tired but equally I'm a little too hyped to just fall straight to sleep. Learning a little more of that means I have to relax completely, so it should help me drift off more easily. I mustn't lose track though, I can't spend hours on this, not at this time of night.
Yoh closed his eyes and relaxed, feeling the natural energy around him, going higher he reached out to cosmos and the celestial knowledge it contained. The stars held far more knowledge and experience than any earthly energy, it encompassed everything within it. Using a simple metaphor, cosmic energy to the various earthly energies was like looking in one giant library, rather than several small ones.
The pathway slowly appeared in his mind as it usually did, the whole process was always at a relaxed pace. That suited Yoh perfectly of course; he didn't like to rush things, so it was nice that the natural forces seemed to agree with him. Not that it helped so much when it made you used to doing things at your own pace when Anna wanted things done 'yesterday'.
Walking to the junction, Yoh chose one of the many paths to follow. He wasn't sure how he knew which ones he had already done, but he always seemed to end up on a new one, unless he specifically wanted to go back to a previous one. It was always a surprise to see what would happen and what he would learn, though in some ways he wished that he could just choose.
It was possible that he could and he had to learn so much before he could learn what he wanted to of course. Thinking of it that way made things easier, if he was sure that he would learn it once he understood enough, then it was okay to wait a while longer. As long as everything worked out the way it needed to, he could wait.
Yoh smiled and continued along his chosen path, motivation heightened once again. He did have to make a mental note to keep track of time, rather than going from start to finish as he usually did. It was just so easy to follow everything through without realising that actually, you'd been sat there for five hours. That had got him into trouble with Anna plenty of times.
Still, he doubted she'd be quite as angry if she knew he had been training, for whatever reason she always assumed he was slacking off, not that he could think why that might be. He didn't really mind though, Anna was Anna and it wasn't as if he told her any different, so he could accept her yelling at him. As long as he was left to get on with what he wanted, the rest of it didn't really matter.