31_days | [12 Aug] [Man or astroman] Separate

Title: Separate
Series: Shaman King
Disclaimer: Characters belong to Takei and are used for entertainment only
Characters: Yoh, Anna
Type/Notes: Written for 12 August theme: Man or astroman of 31_days. Interpreted rather one-sidedly.

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Asakura Yoh lay under the tree, watching the twinkling stars from between the leaves and tried to puzzle out what his elder brother had said. Hao had said that one day they would be reunited.

It was as though Hao believed that Yoh was but a stray fragment of him, broken apart when the single entity in their mother's womb had separated into twins. What Hao wanted, it seemed, was for the separate pieces to become one, for him to be 'whole'. It sounded to Yoh as though Hao was telling him that they would be joined bodily, by force if necessary, and had a sudden, nightmarish vision of being devoured by the Spirit of Fire.

Yoh felt the protest to Hao's claims in every pore of his body. He held up his hands to his face, studying the tanned and scratched skin. "But I'm me," he said.

"Why are you talking to yourself?" A cool, uncurious voice asked.

Almost without volition Yoh found himself on his feet. "Anna!" he said, feeling his heartbeat speed up as he thought furiously. Had he missed a training session? Did he forget to buy Anna dessert? He watched with repressed terror--surely even meeting Hao was not this nerve-breaking--as she came forward, her red scarf lifting slightly in the cool night breeze.

To his surprise, his fiancée reached his side without a single violent act (at him) and seated herself on his right with all the imperiousness a queen could wish. "I heard what Hao said to you today," she said.

It went without saying that Anna would have known even if she hadn't overheard Hao's creepy speech, but Yoh appreciated the gesture of conversation from her.

"Aah," he said, sitting down again.

"What are you going to do about it?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said. At her narrowed-eyed look, he said quickly, "I'll figure it out, honest!"

She made a stern-sounding "hm".

Yoh groped for words. "Hao is already so powerful," he said. "I was just thinking that he doesn't need me to complete him, surely."

There was silence. "Hao is powerful," Anna said finally. "But he still needs to be reborn into the right time, in order to take part in the Shaman Fight."

Yoh nodded slowly, remembering the first time he had promised Anna to become Shaman King. Then, even unaware of Hao's existence, he was conscious that it was his will, and his desire alone, that made him decide on a goal like that. "I'm me," he said, echoing his earlier words. "Hao is powerful, but he is a man, a human. I'm not part of him, and he cannot make me so. I'm separate from him."

Anna gave a small gasp beside him.

He turned to look at her. "And because I am, I will keep my promise, Anna," he said.

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