Manta ran happily without being aware that he was being followed. As a non-shaman, these things were easy to miss for him, and much to his own fault, he was too distracted to be aware. Yoh had a twin! Yes, his twin was scary just like his guardian spirit, but hey! He was happy to be on Yoh's good side because it meant he was also on Hao's good side! This means that they can keep going on these crazy adventures, he can join them and help them with the competition and also have lots of fun together!
On the other side, Yoh was running towards him to meet with Manta. After hearing that he was being followed, he grabbed his sword and went to face the situation straight on. "I just wanted to thank you for being so supportive!" He said to Amidamaru. "It really means a lot to me to have your acceptance. I was worried you might not want to be my guardian spirit anymore!"
The spirit was floating by side concentrating to meet with their human friend in time. Being a moment too late or too early in a fight can change the entire course of the battle. "Back in my day, it used to be quite common. Mostly between royal families who wanted to keep their blood pure." But they weren't in those times anymore. "When I first met you, Master Yoh, you proved to me you have a good heart. For me from that moment, nothing else mattered."
"I'm really grateful to hear that, I know we are not in those times anymore and what Hao and I are and have is forbidden by law." Not only the common human haws... but his entire family shunned him and attacked him when he was young just for spending time with Hao. "But I swear, it's the happiest I have ever been. And now it's time to demonstrate to him and everyone else what a good team we make!"
"There's no need for that from my side, Yoh." Hao maintained a relatively good distance, not too far to act too late in case of anything and not too close to disturb his brother's concentration and determination. He was so pumped to impress his elder brother it was too cute not to give in. "I know, I'm sorry." He apologized to his guardian spirit. "I know you dislike this form something terrible, but we need not to attract unwanted attention. Not for now at least."
"Waaaaah!" Manta screamed as he was suddenly lifted into the air, struggling to get free. He landed on a large tree branch on a tall tree and saw Hao calmly sitting there, resting his arm on his knee's foot which was raised to his chest for a more comfortable position. He saw then the Spirit of Fire floating silently around him. "What is going on?!" He asked looking around. "What's happening? Is everything alright?"
"We have some unexpected guests on our tails, but don't worry. Yoh is coming soon to solve the issue. How about you sit this one back and let him take care of it?" Alright, maybe sit back just to intervene if it's absolutely necessary. "I do realize I may have waited a bit too long to start Yoh's training, no time like the present to see where we stand and where we can work on."
"But why are we here? If there's trouble then we need to help Yoh!" He was looking around already worried for his friend and nearly lost his balance, almost falling off. He always hated heights and this was no different.
"Yoh needs to learn how to carry his fights on his own, he cannot rely on me coming to his aid every time and expect me to be there at every call." The Spirit of Fire gave him a judgemental side-eye, knowing better that Hao would be there at every call and then some more. "Be quiet now, the show's starting." If he said that to the human or his guardian spirit, only he knows the true answer to that.
Manta was chewing his fingernails as Yoh and Amidamaru fought the three spirits who were following the human. Not exactly fought so far, as much as dodging their attacks one by one with a bit of limp and lateness in the moves as Yoh's wounds haven't healed completely which in turn affected his connection with his guardian spirit. "I told him he is not in shape to carry out a fight, but what do you know, my stubborn brother is giving them a run for their souls."
"Hey, Hao. I was wondering..." The little human with a pumpkin-sized head started sheepishly. "Yoh seems to be in awe of your strength and always says how strong you are, but if you enter the competition you might be paired against very powerful enemies, and I just, well, how can you be so sure you'll be Shaman King? Your guardian spirit seems strong and it's awesome that it can control fire, but won't its size make you be at disadvantage?"
"Well for once, I don't know how much Yoh told you, but I'm not his age."
Manta sweat dropped and nervously thought to himself. 'Coming out of the womb a few minutes before your brother hardly makes it an age difference.'
"Hmmm quite, but not quite. Don't make that face, I can read minds." With his eyes glued to the battle, he kept watching his brother's moves also calculating where he excelled at, what were his strong points and where they needed to work on.
"For starters, Spirit of Fire cannot control fire. It is Fire, one of the Five Grand Elemental Spirits created by the Great Spirit itself. I stole it when I was in Hell for five hundred years after my first life, I am the only one strong enough to bear his power. Oh yes, my first life. I am actually over a thousand years old, this would be my third reincarnation. But this is the first time I reincarnated as a twin so imagine my surprise growing in the womb of my mother that there is another half of me growing inside just as well."
"I don't think I have told him this part yet, but I did try to murder him in the womb repeatedly. What do you know... pesky little thing persisted to grow. When I was born the Asakura family tried to kill me at birth, if Yoh was the elder one he would be dead now because they didn't know which one was which. As you can see, they failed to do that, but what they did do was deny my existence as an Asakura and let my brother grow up without knowing me. They were going to raise him to kill me one day. Hilarious, can you imagine?"
"I imagine the Thanksgiving holidays must be very interesting in your family." Manta laughed nervously, his heart racing just from learning that Hao is actually over a thousand years old, wanting to run away screaming at the knowledge, but not being able to due to being on a tree branch on a very high tree.
"I spent five hundred years in Hell and another five hundred in Purgatory, but I don't think I can handle an Asakura family dinner without burning them alive for keeping me away from Yoh." His brother was still fighting, planning to take them all three spirits with one strike of his sword. "Think about what I just told and imagine the power I hold. Then think about my brother and how much your friendship means to you. Personally, I despise humans, but he seems to have grown attached to you."
"Well, I know I haven't been around him for too long, but he is the first person to be my friend. Not for my grades or my family's money or bullying me for being different. To me, Yoh is already my best friend in the whole world and nothing can change that."
Using his sword Yoh cut through the spirits defeating all three of them with a single move.
"Good. Keep that in mind when my brother will speak to you next. He has something important to tell you and seems to trust enough to do so... don't ruin that for him." Or else I will make you regret the day you first learned my name.