Hey, this chapter is late. I made changes to the previous chapters because I had made mistakes in the timeline. So the story now starts in February of 1998

CHAPTER FIVE: Breakfast and Presentation

The shamans getting out of their tent were unhappy to see the newcomer was still here, they were on edge and consequently so was the demon summoner. She had expected everyone to gather for breakfast, but they each went to their own activity. Mohammed went to the river, Kana was setting up for her and the girls - she was the most annoyed at the presence of the new member in her dress -. Boris was looking for food, apparently they all had their separate stash and he was sneaking into Peyote's, who was still sleeping. Luchist emerged from the caravan, he smelled strongly of after shave and cologne.

"Good morning Lord Hao, signora Asahana, I will prepare breakfast for you in a moment, what will you like signora Asahana ?"

"Signora Asahana is mouthful" she thought but responded " I don't know, I'm not really hungry. but thank you for asking"

"What do you usually go by ? just Asahana?" Hao asked her in his mind, to himself he thought: It's confusing. It's not fit for a queen". and aloud he said. "You need to eat now that you are on earth, Luchist is a really good cook"

"If you say so" simultaneously she answered to Hao: "Only the Asakura call me that…"

"SHTOOOP" Opacho says, really angry this time.

"Ah let me take care of her Lord Hao, she probably needs to use the bathroom"

That was true of course, so she disappeared in the caravan with the tall italian man.

"Aaah poor Opacho We weren't careful enough, we should probably undo the spell so we can read each other's thoughts directly that would be easier"

With the kid gone the onmyoji couldn't read her thoughts, but she felt guilty, way more than he was.

"This happens often, she has to deal with me most of the time, and the others are oblivious to her gift, they only know to maintain a calm demeanor around her."

"They don't know about reishi ?"

Hao shook his head to say no.

Boris came to them, he has a bag of rice, some large eggs and other things in his hands.

"Let me take take care of breakfast for you this morning lord Hao, it's what I should do for you as your servant"

The last Asakura's eyes go wide, the feelings coming from this man have a taste she does not like. This seem to brush over her elder though because he answered smoothly:

"You can give this to Luchist and work together with him"

"I have to work with the favorite" "Yes Lord Hao" and he went to the caravan.

"That's not good" Asahana assesses and she looks at the rest of the camp. If the shamans were not focused on themselves they were thinking negative things of another. Spirit of Fire is having a blast running after the onis. She might have been the catalyst for them to materialize, but the demons had been there, under the surface all along. Her beloved had to endure everyone's thoughts like this, and even more surprising, Opacho, seemed unaffected. She sighed:

"You just gathered a bunch of stray cats and expected them to get along like that, didn't you ?"

"I did that?" He also looked around the camp. "The cats are gone though, they don't like the onis"

"Yeah, cats never liked me, unlike you"

"Fufu furyako mu" the two Asakuras casted the annulment spell together, they laughed.

" I think I need to talk to everyone, I have to present myself properly"

"Okay then" he raises his voice so that even the slumbering shamans would hear: " Attention everybody, we are going to have breakfast all together this morning ! bring whatever you have to Luchist's caravan"

The shaman's mindset changed immediately, they all obey gladly. Peyote even brings his tent down by rushing out of it with a big Nopal plant. Kouji and Tabarsi come forth with vegetable and cans. The mindreaders can tell Maryon was hesitant to bring her precious tea, but the joy to contribute in Hao's name outweighs her greed.

Images of another life came to the shaman queen, of her own band of rascals gathering around her when she needed, before she ascended. What did she use to eat ? this was so long ago.. a memory of a blue haired woman putting a plate of food on the table for her. Blue hair ? Speaking of, Kana was still truly unhappy about seeing another girl wearing her dress. Asahana noticed and offered to give it back immediately ,but many insisted she had to wear clothes. Hao did not seem to care though. And so, in a moment, the shamans had gathered in a misshapen circle, with each their own dishes but all had the same kind of stew of everything, tea or coffee, and rice.

"I hope this will suit your taste signora Asahana" Luchist says, putting a bowl of stew in front of her.

_I think I used to eat kroko's in the morning" she answered absentmindedly, still in between the now and then. She smells the stew, tomatoes, oregano.. other things she doesn't recognize. "It smells delicious !"

_"Kroko's ? what are those ?" asked the brunette Asakura sitting to her right.

_"It's fried cabbage in a soft batter and torched"

_ "Do you mean okonomiyaki ?"

_"That's such a long name"

_ "Krokrokrokro" the little african girl made funny sounds as she tried to pick up some rice with a baby spoon

_ "I will try to make that for you then" Luchist intervened

_ "You have to air fry the cabbage though"

_ "Air fry ?"

"THIS CONVERSATION IS TOO CASUAL"

Ashana looked at the group, it was Kana, Zangching, the BoZ and Yamada who had thought that . Others are not as worried, Marion seems on edge, but at this point it was her nature.

The time traveler cleared her throat.

"Hum Hum"

"Well as I said yesterday, I traveled back in time to help the eighth shaman king. You can consider me to be the head trainer of Hao's team for now. My name is Asahana but that is how you should call me: coach,master, or teacher. That is my role to you now."

This is not well received:

"I'm in so much trouble, I shouldn't have attacked her yesterday."

"She wants us to call her master ? just like that ?"

"So we're going to have onis around all the time now ?"

"That's how it is. I trust your new coach to raise your levels in time for the shaman fight" Hao says in support, cutting through the opposition . "Master is a bit much, no ?"

Again the shaman settled for the will of their boss. He has that charisma afterall.

"Isn't that what you call someone who teaches you ?like in martial arts?" She thinks in answer.

Opacho grunts.

"Sorry, Opacho-ma" says Asahana and the little girl smiles back to her.

"Yes you should call me Master, as your teacher I expect gratitude and that you devote yourself to developing your shaman skills"

Most were taken aback again, some are excited. One is disgruntled for a whole other reason.

"Wasn't Lord Hao going to teach us ?" asks Peyote

"Hao is a shit teacher."

His followers gasp loudly then a heavy silent falls. Even the onis turn to see what is happening in the circle.

"That's rather bold of you dear descendant…" the shaman in question says icily

_"Not at all" "I don't stall my words, I mean no harm" "Hao is a prodigy, he's learned everything by himself, therefore he has no idea how to teach anyone what seems self-evident to him."

_"You could've phrased it like that from the beginning"

_"The two statements hold true."

_"I thought you were pass provocation, should I teach you something ?"

_"I'll play later.I need to catch up your henchmen first"

Opacho interrupts by spilling her food and crawls towards her fellow reishi users "Play ! Play !"

"This is a comedy show" Yamada thinks

"Why is lord Hao playing along with her ?" Kana is exasperated.

"Oh baby Opacho, you want to demonstrate ?" Asahana lifted the little girl in her arms, she was enchanted.

"I don't think she's old enough to.." tries her godfather but he is shut off by the new coach:

"You mastered oversoul on your own at five years old, I did at three, she can do simple mana infusions"

The two girls are silently conversing, the new mentor was showing her what she wanted, what it would feel like, and what to desire to make it happen. Of course the little mindreader caught on immediately.

"So, Opacho is going to push her mana outside of her body and I'm going to catch it"

The little girl pointed her finger to her elder, who in response raised her hand and showed her palm to her. The difficulty was that the toddler didn't have so much furyoku, pushing just a speck of it was really difficult, but she did quite easily for a first time. When Asahana caught it she added her own to send back, her student managed to reabsorb her own energy, leaving a cloud of the rest on the tip of her index. in her mind she showed Ashana she wanted to eat it, to which she agreed.

But all the novice shamans saw was a baby pointing a finger then put it in her mouth and giggle happily.

"That's a rather advanced technique actually" the onmyoji remarks

"It depends on the method, I understand that in this era teaching used to be more offensive focused, I favor a more holistic approach"

"Used to ? I think you mean "is". It is logical if you think right now most shamans train in order to participate in the shaman fight"

"Oh yes I keep referring to the past, this so far away from my birth I have trouble thinking of this as the present"

"Are we really supposed to believe she's from the future ?" Kana thought as she was stuffing heaping spoons of rice in her mouth

Asahana was going to answer to her thought but her husband orders her:

"Eat, you need to replenish your energy" and also in thoughts "Be careful, you are answering unspoken questions"

"So what if I do?" the mind reader retorted,

Opacho was back in Luchist' arms, he tries to feed her some more but she is growling and contorting.

" I don't understand why they don't know about reishi, I never had to hide my ability, it would have made for very uncomfortable moments if I had "

" I prefer it that way."

They would have to discuss this later, Opacho did not like to be a living walky-talky. Asahana finally started her dish, she complimented the italian chef . The rest of the group were finishing their plates So she asks:

"Can you introduce yourselves ?"

They are surprised.

"I presented myself, can you tell me how should I call you, your reason to be here and anything else I should know ?"

The group is still unsure, so Luchist started:

_ "My name is Luchist, I am the latest recruit, outside of Opacho of course. I am here because I believe our Lord Hao can vanquish true evil from this world."

_ "Thank you Luchist, can you show me your me your spirit ally ? I was quite impressed yesterday."

The shaman summoned the giant mechanical spirit.

_ "Of course, this is Lucifer."

_ "Lucifer ?"

Asahana could recognize the aura in part. So it was part of Lucifer that had been infused in an Object and then became a spirit ? That's really interesting. The rest of the group was also impressed by the angel, they apparently didn't get to see it often.

After a brief pause, and Blocken followes:

_ "You can call me Blocken. I was the first to join this team as Lord Hao was just an infant when he found me. He delivered me from a sheltered life and my own genetic disease. I use a quantity of mice and rats spirits with legos to build my oversouls. I look forward to studying under you."

"Hum so we have the two strongest and experienced shamans here."

_ "I am Boris Tepes Dracula, and this is my servant " says he in a profound and theatrical tone. "My family owes Lord Hao the power that allowed us to survive, devoting my life to him isn't enough to repay his kindness"

The onmyoji in question gave his best nonchalant smile, but both Asakura were thinking his attitude was a bit over the top and problematic. Thankfully BoZ intervened very loudly so the mood didn't become awkward:

_"That's enough Boris ! You aren't the only one who devotes themselves to Lord Hao here!"

_"We are the BoZ brothers ! We will change the world by purifying it with our music !"

_ "I bet our records are super famous in the future ! You must have heard of us !"

_"No, I had no idea you existed until yesterday."

Crushing their egos isn't enough, two ghosts appear behind them and pressure them into sitting back down. The spirits are wearing Mexican ponchos and sombreros. The brothers didn't seem to care and were getting ready to play, but the coach stops them :

_I heard you yesterday. It's an interesting technique you have, I'm sure I can help you improve.

The Duo is overjoyed to hear just this much from Asahana "positive reinforcement is the way to go then." she thinks.

_ "Settle down BoZ, you made fools of yourselves enough . As for me, I am Peyote. I will follow Lord Hao wherever he goes until he is Shaman King. There's a number of spirit mariachis that come along with me, the ones you must know are Carlos and Juan, they use to be good friends of mine. Thank you for bringing us the good news that he will succeed."

_ "There was no doubt about it" Hao chimes in

_ "Let me see your face, Peyote."

The musician had his green hair hiding his face from her. He had managed to conceal the pang of sorrow while talking but the truth was that he could see the proximity between the two Asakura and felt left out. He gulped and moved the green strand to his left side so she could see him. When he turned to face her she was giving him a hard stare.

"There he is, my husband's first groopie"

The onmyoji takes his goddaughter on his laps. "Am I going to be hunted by him ?" he asks.

"Life isn't kind to you Peyote, you already look tired and you haven't died even once yet."

she then spoke sympathetically " You are also a musician, let's work together to make times sweeter now that I'm here."

Peyote felt his heart warm, she had successfully won him over. Good.

"Yes signora Asahana"

"Professora." she corrected, disgruntled.

"Professora."

There were the three girls left, the japanese guy who had a similar style to Boris, the biggest imposing silhouette and of course the one who had attacked with an energy beam. None of them seemed ready to talk. The mentor finished her dish and turned to the blue haired girl who had about the same height as her. The style she sported reminded her of someone she had loved very deeply, but something else was amiss. What did Hao call her yesterday ? Kana?

"Ah ! You are Kanabisu !"

The one is surprised to be addressed and not happy about her moniker. Cannabis ? the stupid wordplay kids would call her sometimes.

"My name is Kana Bismarck, I'm the one who lended you the dress yesterday" she says.

"I didn't recognize you because you look so young !" Asahana chirps

"I'm twenty years old" answers Kana, annoyed, because of her style people always thought she was younger.

_"You don't have the same appearance as what I know you as. We worked very well together … No, we will work together in the future, and even now, put your trust in me as I do you."

That changed her mood.

_"In the future ? I don't really know what this means.." she was embarrassed, a second ago she didn't believe this person.

_"I know you as Kanabisu, you will rule a very important domain in Hell, thank you for your good work"

Now Kana is blushing "You're welcome. I mean, I didn't do anything… I'm going to hell ?" she realizes.

_"We all go to Hell." answered the coach, smiling.

What Hao wanted to say was that she was revealing too much too soon, but it's true that the shaman fight preliminaries are only a year away. So Kana was going to have an important role in Hell ? The girl did have an innate talent… but she hadn't progressed so much.

"I told you you were a shit teacher" Asahana directed her thoughts to Opacho and him.

"Tsk.."

His followers were now panicking about this revelation. One voice cut through:

"Of course we are going to hell" says Mohammed. " I have killed enough people to go there myself even before I met Lord Hao. What is important is that in the world we leave after us no children will be left with such sins to commit, like we did. We will have to do many more atrocious acts in the shaman fight, but after that, it will end. That is why I fight for Lord Hao."

_"What is your name?" ask the coach, impressed.

_"Mohammed Tabarsi, they call me Turbine. My spirit ally is djiin, he is resting right now "

_"Turbine. I like your resolve. But it is sorrow and regret that plunges you to the deepest depth of hell, not killing. You will all go to Hell because that is where we all go after life on earth to let go of our grievances. And you will go there to train as well."

_"Too much !" Hao warns silently

_"You always want to shelter your protégés, lies and deceit only bring trouble." His wife defies him.

Opacho wines. Besides being the medium of the conversation between the couple, the other's thoughts have been really loud around her for a while now. Onis are trying to approach her.

"Can someone take Opacho away ? this is a lot for her and I still have some important things to tell you before we start training."

"Of course, Master" Luchist obliges right away

"Now let's wrap this up quickly, who are you ?"

Matilda speaks up and presents herself and her friend Marion. Another pair of lost kittens, they are so young. The two use dolls to channel their spirits, they maintain the oversouls almost all the time and were the most efficient with Blocken to chase the onis yesterday.

"Again, I'm sorry to have frighten you Marion"

the youngest doesn't answer, she's thinking she doesn't want to be here. There's too many people. She despises them. They are all looking at her.

Asahana sigh and looks to the ground "This is a tricky one…"

"My name is Bill, I was rescued by Lord Hao and I owe him my life. Me and my team fight for him now."

After another pause, the japanese man sighs "I am Yamada Kouji, I met Lord Hao on a trip to France. I use to spend time photographing wild animals, my guardian spirit is a King Crab."

"Why did you join Hao?"

"I don't really know… I also think humans are greedy, it's very obvious they are destroying the earth. It might be better if they weren't here after all ?"

"That's not enough to go and risk your life though is it ?"

The mentor is visibly unhappy with what she is presented with. Not even half of them have what it takes to become Kami-class shamans, and in only one year ? She's going to have to pull a few tricks. She looks around again and finally notice the one who was being as quiet as possible. The big chinese man is looking down, his hair combed back to hide a thin spot in the back, his spectacle look too small for his face.

"Zang Ching" Says Hao "Do you want to introduce yourself ?"

Caught, he stumbles to make a sentence but doesn't really succeed in saying anything coherent.

"You're the one who said I wasn't welcome yesterday"

"Ah.. AH.. I apologize.."

"You don't have to be scared of me"

The flustered man takes a short breath and finally looks up.

The new coach looks calm, she is sitting crossed legged and there is not a trace of anger or resentment on her face.

"Jumping onto an enemy you haven't properly assessed will lead you to die in the shaman fight, let's work on your energy vision okay ?"

Zang Ching eye were humid "I'm sorry"

"Don't sweat it, we'll have to fight often in your training, you just had an early taste of my powers" and she adds a beaming smile to reassure him further.

Hao looks at her, she has more social skills than himself, leading skills even… She is so beautiful with this expression. Before he stares for too long he asks:

"So now, what's the program coach ?"

She dove right in, the speech she made ripped to the core of her new trainees, making most unsure that they could reach the competition. When she ended it she demanded:

"Well if after all that you still want to give it a shot, whoever is ready to train, meet me under the tree in…" Asahana looks at the sky, the sun is reaching the skyline of Tokyo, it must be 10.30 ? " twenty minutes."

The shamans stare at their empty plates, depressed, but Asahana can tell some of them have a fervent determination

"There is no time to waste."

"Why so rushed ?"