Chapter 3

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Thought/ Dreams/ Event from the past

'Telepathic voice'

[Voice from the past]

-Telephone-

Letter

"Dialogue"

Emphasis

Dangerous tone

An Ice Demon Fox

"Yoh, are you sure you are going to be alright by yourself?" Hao repeated his question for the umpteenth times that day as Luna was tugging at him, but he refused to go just yet and grabbed the door's frame so Luna couldn't pull him away from Yoh.

It's time for the two of them to go to do some exorcism Luna was requested the other day, but since Hao thought the level would be too high for Luna and the place was so far away from their home, he offered to help her out. On the day they should go though, Hao's worrywart side came out and he didn't want to leave Yoh's side without making sure Yoh would be alright by himself, since Yoh need to watch over the Shrine in case someone would come and need help. It's the first time they will be separated for more than an hour, so Hao was even more reluctant to left Yoh by himself, he would need Matamune as well, so Yoh would be really alone by himself.

Yoh chuckled and nodded, "Yes, I will be fine." He assured Hao with a warm smile, "It's not like you haven't train me to protect myself, there's no need for you to worry about me".

Hao sighed and pulled Yoh into a hug, "I'm going to miss you, Otouto." He said softly with his forehead pressed against Yoh's.

Yoh's eyes softened, "I'm going to miss you as well, Hao-niichan." He said warmly and pulled apart, "Now, you better go before the client wait for you too long".

"That's right, come on." Luna said and dragged Hao away from Yoh, Yoh waved at them with a smile on his face, Hao bit his lower lip and waved back at Yoh. He didn't want to be away from Yoh, but duty called first, or so Luna and Yoh told him, he was used to do as he pleased in his First and Second life.

"Spirit of Fire." Hao called softly and his Spirit Partner materialized before him, he looked at Luna, "Let's go." He said as Spirit of Fire lowered it's hand so they could climbed up, after he and Luna climbed up to the Spirit's hand, he looked back at Yoh, who automatically waved at him, "You sure you will be fine?" He asked again with a worried face.

Yoh laughed, "I will be fine." He answered with a grin, "Take care, Mom, Nii-chan!".

"We are going, Yoh." Luna said with a smile.

"Be careful, Otouto." Hao said with a pout, he was worried sick about leaving Yoh by himself, "We will go now, see you".

"See you!" Yoh answered cheerfully before Spirit of Fire took off to the direction of Osaka, where Luna's client was living at.

Yoh sighed once the Spirit of Fire was out of view, he turned around and get dressed into his Apprentice Kimono before heading out to the Shrine. Even though he was an apprentice, the people wouldn't hesitate to ask for Yoh's help since he and Hao had become quite famous for their strength, they know that Yoh would do the job just fine.

One thing that he love about the village they were in was the fact that the people were as bad as those in big city, the people were humble and wouldn't shunned them for their unusual ability. The same couldn't be said to the people from big city though, just like the ones in their school in the city, they would avoiding Hao and Yoh as if they were parasite, and as much as Hao didn't want to kill anymore, they would never fail to make the Fire Shaman angry.

The truth was Hao didn't care if they shunned him or anything, but Hao got really angry around people like that was because they would shunned Yoh and bad talking him, he was angry because they hurt his Brother's feeling. Yoh knew this and tried to tell Hao that he was alright, but Hao didn't want to listen and would often scowling every time he heard someone bad talking Yoh just because he was a Shaman.

When Yoh arrived at the Shrine, he saw that no one was around, so he just walked in and decided to make some talismans and Shikigami papers rather than doing nothing. But even after he finished doing all that, no one was coming into the Shrine, and he was bored out of his mind.

"Child." An echoing voice startled Yoh, he looked around and didn't see who was calling him.

"Who are you?" Yoh asked curiously as he still looking around.

"I'm Suiryu, The Deity of The Lake." The voice answered.

"Suiryu-sama?!" Yoh asked in surprise, no one was ever heard of Suiryu's voice before, aside from Luna since she was her Miko.

"Yes." Suiryu answered with a chuckle, "I see that you are bored, child. Do you want to do something else?".

Yoh nodded his head by habit, "Yes, I want to play in the forest." He answered with a sheepish smile.

"I see." Suiryu answered, "Well, you can go if you want, I will inform you if you are needed here".

"Really?!" Yoh jumped up from his sitting position and bowed to the Sacred Room inside the Shrine, Luna said that the room was dedicate for Suiryu if she ever want to rest in the Shrine and for them to bowed at to show their respect to the Deity, "Thank you very much!" He said and running off from the Shrine, he dimly heard the Deity's chuckle when he ran out, but he didn't mind it so much and heading for the forest.

Yoh love the forest around his home, Hao said that it's because Yoh had a strong affinity with the Nature, just like Hao. He would come to the forest as often as he could, whether it's to train or just to relaxing himself, and he would enjoyed it the most when Hao would go with him to the forest.

"Speaking of Hao . . . what's Nii-chan is doing now, I wonder? I bet he's sulking right now, since I'm not there with him." Yoh talked to himself as he arrived at the small lake near his home, not the Lake where Suiryu lived, but a smaller one where people would often go to simply enjoy the scenery.

XXXXX

"Hatchi!" Hao sneezed after they landed just outside of Osaka, to avoid the people's suspicion, they decided to land outside the city and then walking to the appointed place where they would meet with the client.

"Ah, someone's talking about you." Luna said with a chuckle.

"I bet it's Yoh." Hao answered with a pout and crossed his arms, "Let's hurry up and finish this job, the sooner we done, the sooner we get back to Yoh".

Luna chuckled again, "Aah, I'm seeing a 1000 years old Shaman sulking~" She said in sing-song to tease Hao, "Sulking because he couldn't be with his Baby Brother~".

"Shut it." Hao grumbled and went back to sulking with a scowl on his face, Luna only laughed in response.

XXXXX

Yoh was looking at his reflection in the water when he felt it, a presence of something approaching him, he looked up to see what was approaching him and was surprised when he saw a Spirit of a big Ninetails Fox. He was surprised because . . . First, the Fox didn't make a single sound when it walked to him. Second, the color of the Fox was pure white, as white as a snow. Third, the Fox eyes was Golden, making it looked like a wolf than a fox. And last, the Fox was walking on the water surface like him.

"Hello!" Yoh greeted the Fox cheerfully with a grin since he didn't feel any negative aura from the Fox.

The Fox glowed a Bluish White light before it's form changed into a more or less 10 years old looking girl wearing a Black colored Yukata with White Obi, completed with a pair of White colored Fox ears on top of her head, 9 White colored Fox tails behind her back, and sharp finger nails. "Hello!" The Fox girl greeted him back with equally cheerful voice and big grin.

"Wow, I knew you are not just a normal Fox Spirit, but to think you are a Shape Shifter." Yoh commented in awe.

"More like I'm a Spirit of a Ninetails Demon Fox." The girl answered with a chuckle, "You are Asakura Yoh, right? Oh, no, you are Haruyama Yoh now. I'm Kugou, Nice to meet you." The Fox girl offered her hand to Yoh.

Yoh accepted the offered hand, "How do you know my name?" He asked curiously.

Kugou laughed cheerfully at the question, "Well, you and Hao are famous among us, Demon Spirits who are in good relationship with Suiryu The Deity, so of course I would know your name." She grinned at Yoh, "I heard that you are here by yourself, so I come here to see what kind of boy you are and keep you company, since Suiryu said that you are bored".

Yoh was grinning widely when he heard that, "Then, are you going to play with me?" He asked excitedly.

Kugou smiled and flicked Yoh's nose, "Better than that." She answered, "I like you, boy, so I will become your Guardian Spirit, how do you like it?".

Yoh tackled the Fox girl into a hug, making them fell to the water, "I would love it!" He exclaimed happily as soon as they surfaced, "Finally! I got my own Guardian Spirit!".

Kugou laughed at his reaction and pat Yoh's head, "Why don't we play 20 Questions? We still need to get to know each other, don't you think?" She asked with a big grin.

Yoh nodded vigorously, "Then, first question!" He exclaimed as he sat on the water surface, "I like Orange! What color do you like?!".

Kugou laughed at Yoh's enthusiasm and answered the question, that game was the start of their beautiful friendship.

XXXXX

Hao yawned as he and Luna arrived back at their home late in the night that day, he and Luna had managed to help the Spirit haunting their client's farm to cross over and don their job in one day, "Sleepy?" Luna asked with a tired smile.

Hao nodded, "Yeah." He answered and headed for his and Yoh's room, "I wanna go and be with Yoh now, Good Night, Mom".

"Good Night." Luna answered as she locked the door before heading for her own room as well.

Hao opened the door to his and Yoh's room, only to get a surprise of his life when he saw a big Ninetails Fox Spirit sleeping beside Yoh, on the opposite from Hao's side of the bed, with his sleeping Brother hugging the Fox.

"What?" Hao asked himself with blinking eyes and a rush of emotion washing over him, with Jealous as the most strongest feeling he felt.

To be continued . . .

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