Hao was making it hard for the nurses to go near him, as a frightened one shakily informed. He would ignore his food and would always threaten the nurses, whether female or male. He don't give a fuck about what he's doing. The shaman only wanted to go out and hunt his twin brother but Arkhe wouldn't allow it.
"Come on Hao! Would you please eat?" The girl persisted, almost pleading to the boy. "I have homework to do and I would not simply allow you to waste my time!" She added, placing the spoon near Hao's stubborn closed mouth. "I don't give a damn about your homework." He retorted, crossing his arms on his chest. "You don't give a damn? Fine. I'll just call a nurse and strap your arms and legs and attach a feeding tube on your nostril. How's that one for a size?" Arkhe smiled mockingly, huffing in pride.
"Fuck you! Give me that tray." Hao cursed defeatedly. He didn't want a foreign tube put in his nostril and juices of food going inside his body system. The boy suppress a shudder. That would be completely disgusting and he could not breathe using his nose for a week or so. Arkhe smugly smiled and gently handed him the tray of food.
He didn't want to admit it but he was pretty hungry. Hao just doesn't want his ego to deflate any more. He care more for his ego than sustain his body. "Where the hell am I anyway?" Hao asked while putting a spoonful of soup in his mouth. "You're in the hospital dummy." Arkhe stuck out her tongue playfully. "I don't accept sarcasm as an answer." The boy retorted, shoving the empty tray on Arkhe's hand.
"You're the one influencing me to do it." The redhead said as she placed the tray on the nearby white table. Everything around Hao is freaking white! Hao half-hearted glared at her and scoffed. Arkhe heaved a sigh. There is no going anywhere with this guy. "You're in Pennsylvania." She answered while she started to unpack her school stuff on a desk. Hao snorted, not clearly amused but at least, he's not that far from Patch Village. Soon, he slowly dozed off, not noticing Arkhe tucking the blanket under his chin.
His feet are scathed from running down the rocky pathway. The boy is clearly panicking. There was this feeling that his mother is not alright. He had this multiple times but it would turned out to be false. But now, he is completely certain that she's not alright.
He went straight home but where is home? His home is easily devoured by flames of red, dragging his mother in this infernal hell. The smoke clouded his mind. He blindly ran straight to the house but it was too much that he can't get in. Asaha gasped, not believing that he cannot enter the burning household.
He sunk down to his knees and stared. Stared at how his home is burning. Stared at how his mother is going to die. He felt so useless. Useless that he didn't make it in time. Useless that he is only a child. Useless that he is so small and scrawny. Useless that he couldn't save his only family, his loving mother.
He suddenly burst into tears. Everything that is happening is overwhelming to the boy. He didn't care that he would get scrape by kneeling on the rocky path. He didn't care. He just want his mother back. How can he be there, too late already? He could hear his mother's agonizing screams and he would flinched. The boy knows that the screams would scarred his life forever, until he die.
Why do they have to kill his mother? His mother didn't do anything wrong. She's very helpful to the villagers and loving and caring. Why does she have to die? He soon despise the lot of them. He's going to avenge his mother. He doesn't care if his hands were covered with blood, as long as he avenge his mother. How can a child think like this? But his mother's death made him do so.
You will regret what you have done, humans. You will soon see the wrath of Asaha. No. The wrath of Mappa Douji.
Hao suddenly jolted up, a scream locked in his throat. He could still hear the screams ringing in his ears. He groaned, noticing the pain etching all throughout his body. Great. The dream rarely occurred to him but why now? Why in his weak, pathetic state? Why in this damn hospital?
The boy suddenly jumped, getting a hold of himself, when he saw a pair of sapphire glimmering in the dark. It scarily shone in the gloomy room albeit there is a bedside lamp lit on. The redhead was staring worriedly at him but he couldn't care less. "Nightmare?" She softly asked but he simply ignored her. She let out an exasperating sigh. She stood up, showcasing her light blue pyjamas with a yellow star pattern sewn on it. Her red hair cascading behind her slim back.
"Hao, go to sleep." The redhead softly whispered whilst ordering him as well. "I don't want to." He declined, acting a 5-year-old. As to why the girl is always worried about his well-being, he didn't want to know. "Go to sleep." She whispered once more, concern filling up in her voice that made Hao emotionally nauseated. The sleepy girl heavily sighed as she sat down on the edge of his bed. Hao was about to protest when slowly, she strokes his hair, like a mother would do to her sleepless child.
She got a hold of Hao's hand but the girl had a death grip, much to Hao's squirming. The redhead opened her mouth and suddenly, she started to sing a lullaby.
Hush a bye, little prince,
Hush a bye, little heart,
Sleep well in your cradle,
Your mum is here, close by.
Close your eyes, sleep for a long time
And you will see that everything is enchanting.
Red, green, blue and gold
Are more beautiful, my sweetheart.
Viola, harp and mandolin:
Everything is sound for my little baby boy
The way she sang made him remember of her. The way she sang makes him want to sleep even though he's trying not to.
Close your eyes, sleep for a long time
And you will see that everything is enchanting.
Red, green, blue and gold
Are more beautiful, my sweetheart.
Viola, harp and mandolin:
Everything is sound for my little baby boy
There it again, her lovely voice that is lulling him to sleep. He didn't want to but he can't help it. Especially when she's stroking his hair and rubbing circles on his hand with her thumb. Slowly but surely, his breathing evened out and Hao was in a peaceful sleep, the first one he got after a thousand years full of nightmares.
The next morning...
Hao sighed in relief. It was best sleep he ever had in his thousand years of living. He opened his eyes, happy to see the morning sun creeping from behind the curtains. But the peace was soon disrupted when the brunette heard shuffling and muttering. He slowly sat up, careful not to put too much force on his wound. He needed it to heal quickly so he could get out of here and hunt and possibly, kill Yoh.
He blinked a few times and his vision finally cleared. Hao saw Arkhe in a funny sight. She was swaying to and fro, trying to put on her black sock that stopped at her thigh. Arkhe put on her polished dark-brown shoes and garbled complaints about how difficult it is to tie the scarlet necktie around her neck. "Come here." He meekly coaxed. Hao rolled his eyes about how she idiotic she can for not knowing how to tie the piece of clothing. The redhead easily obliged and Hao focused on tying her necktie, ignoring her fusses about hastily combing her hair.
Arkhe kept muttering about how she's gonna be late for school. "I'm gonna be late!" The redhead exclaimed as she stuffed her things inside her bag. Hao found this scene very amusing especially the way she is panicking. She kept pacing to and fro in the room, trying to find her handkerchief. "Here." Hao spoke, throwing a white handkerchief in her direction. She easily caught it but ignored the amused smile plastered on Hao's face.
Her hair is still wet and her white collar shirt is not properly tucked in her skirt. Arkhe looked at her wrist watch and shockingly gasped. She ran towards Hao and suddenly kissed him on the cheek. "Good bye Hao! Thanks for the tie and the hanky." She bid farewell before sprinting outside and slamming the door shut, leaving Hao with a heated face.
Meanwhile…
Oh my Lord! I kissed Hao Asakura on the cheek! Oh my God! Those thoughts kept echoing inside her head. She couldn't focus on her Math teacher's lecturing. X is equal to… Hao, Hao, Hao. I kissed Hao! "Ms. Stinson! Are you even listening?!" Her Math teacher suddenly shouted and she obviously jumped. "Yes, Ms. Jay!" Arkhe answered, lowering her head in embarrassment.
"I bet she's thinking about those shamans again." Someone implied and everyone snickered. She badly wanted to retort that shamans are true, for Christ's sake! There is one residing in the hospital under her care. "Nope. She must be thinking about how badly she wanted to have a relationship with Hao Asachura." And everyone suddenly burst into laughter! It's Hao Asakura, you idiot! "Class quiet down!" And that saved her from the rest of the embarrassment but she can't help but feel that her face is 100˚C warmer.
To say that she is shocked is an understatement. The nurses informed her that Hao is behaving and obeying their requests. He ate his meals and never threaten. It must have been the girl's affectionate gesture or Hao wouldn't be like this or that he's a fraud. He felt like he's under a spell.
When Arkhe came back, she can't help but blush at the sight of Hao. He is very handsome in his own way. With his long chestnut brown hair and his smouldering obsidian eyes. Arkhe could have easily fallen in love with Hao if he's not made out of pure evil. He simply glared at her and she went about with her schoolwork.
The redhead sat on the hospital desk and brought out her homework for the day. When she got out her Math notebook, she blushed furiously and felt a shiver down her spine. A note was taped on her notebook and she hastily read it. "Arkhe and Hao-kun sitting on a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G." The room went ten times warmer. Arkhe crumpled and toss it in the trash can across Hao's bed but the shaman easily caught it.
He sprawled the paper and his eyes went wide. He read the message over and over again and suddenly threw it in the trash can, easily shooting it in. "From a classmate." She whispered and got engrossed with her homework. Hao let the subject slip, not wanting to go back and talk about it ever again.
He merely started at her to observe her features. The once wet hair was now dried and was styled in a French braid. Her sapphire blue eyes glistened with calmness and mischief. Hao violently shook his head to snap him back to reality. He should stop ogling on this girl and think of his course of plan in taking revenge at Yoh.
"When am I going to get discharge from this wretched hospital?" He asked to no one in particular. He didn't even expect Arkhe to answer his question. "If you behave and you let them check you up, maybe tomorrow or the other day." She responded without averting her gaze from her homework, too engrossed in finishing it.
Hao snorted and affixed his gaze on the empty white ceiling. "You don't have a family, right?" She suddenly bluntly asked, still not looking at him. "I don't have one anymore." He solemnly answered. "Figures." She muttered, sighing in relief as she closed her Biology textbook. "What do you mean?" He huffed, confusion bubbling in his head.
"Well… My mother decided to enroll you to my school since all you're gonna do in the house is laze around but that's what she said." She defended, not wanting another glare from the Asakura. He would hardly laze around. He would have probably searching Yoh by that time. And suddenly what she said started sinking in his mind. Enroll me to her school? Hao momentarily stopped breathing and his little world stopped spinning. Fuck.
Dear readers,
Liliko: I don't intend to write a Mary-Sue. My character is not perfect. I haven't reveal her past yet so please continue reading.
The song Arkhe sang is entitled Lullaby of Sounds and Colors. It's in standard Italian (but I translated it to English) composed for the European Union Lingua Project, "Languages from the Cradle." The song is dedicated for a baby boy and a baby girl but I cut the baby girl part because Hao is in fact, a boy and he would frown at Arkhe if he heard her singing the baby girl part so basically, the song is not mine.
There is no much to verify so see ya!
Read and review my good fellas!
Yours truly, Star.