Chapter Text
When Ame-no-Tajikarao told Asakura Keiko to check on her two-year-old child, the part-time shrine maiden rushed back to Izumo without hesitation.
Ever since the incident, her parents had been busy dealing with the wary shamanic clans. Keiko didn't fully understand what was going on per se , but she knew the clan meetings were for the sake of maintaining peace and stability. She couldn't blame the clan leaders for doubting Yohmei's cover-up, especially when it involved the energy spike years prior. Because her parents were barely at home at the moment, she could only rely on herself, Mikihisa, the ancestral spirits, and several shikigami to take care of her child. Fortunately, Yoh was a sleepy baby. Unfortunately, Keiko had to return to work, receiving a final notice from her boss to resume work in Tokyo or face dismissal.
Keiko can not give up her job and rely on her clan's money, so she sincerely hoped her husband would be there to tend to their child. While they both disagreed with Yohmei's declaration that Yoh will grow up to kill Hao, Keiko didn't favor Mikihisa's plan where he will take Yoh's place to kill Hao-
"M..Mma...ma!"
Suddenly, the world around her stopped for a brief moment. Placing one hand on her chest, Keiko panted as she found her child looking at her with his big doe eyes. Yoh has always been a sleepy baby, which her mother remarked may have come from Mikihisa. However, when Yoh was awake, he livened the room for better and worse. He hadn't spoken a single sensible word until now. Wait! He said his first word!
"Mama!"
"Mama! Mama~!" Yoh raised his little hands, waving his arms in the air as a spirit spun around him. In all her life in the Asakura compound, she has never seen that spirit currently supervising her child. However, its reiryoku is strong enough to potentially harm her child.
"Yoh..." Keiko whispered, carefully walking towards her child to avoid alarming the spirit. Yoh's cheerful demeanor dropped, sensing the fear resting in the pit of her stomach. A dozen thoughts ran across her mind, but her priority was to retrieve her baby from that unknown spirit who murdered her father's shikigami.
'I will not lose you!' Keiko lost her first child. She can't lose Yoh too! Yoh begins to sniffle as she summoned her guardian spirit. The unknown spirit moved its wings(?) as it focused its attention towards the kami.
"Calm down, Keiko. You are scaring the child." Ame-no-Tajikarao advised, staring down at the spirit as Keiko went over to scoop up her child. "Go now. I will deal with them."
"Let's get you changed, okay?" Keiko cradled her baby close, shielding it from the unknown. Ignoring the staring showdown between two spirits, she went off to quickly bring her baby to safety. The mansion is quiet. She hummed a song to calm them both down, eventually smiling when Yoh began yawning. After setting her baby on the bed, Keiko waited for her guardian spirit to return. Ame-no-Tajikarao surely has an explanation on what that spirit was.
...
"Spirit of Earth..." Keiko echoed her kami's words, quickly connecting the dots. "B-but... How?"
"I am unsure..." Ame-no-Tajikarao admitted, staring down at the woman. "However, the elemental has emerged from Hell and chose to follow your child."
'If I alert the Patch tribe now, who knows what they would do?' Keiko covered her mouth, staring down at her sleeping child. 'Then again, they're the least of my worries. What would my parents do when they find out?'
"Can you seal it?" Keiko inquired, aware she couldn't cast the spirit away. For now, all she knew from the Spirit of Earth was that it was a god-class spirit originating from the Great Spirit. The Patch Tribe were the people utilizing these spirits until Hao-
"That would anger the spirit," The kami denied her request. "There is also the possibility the two have made a bond."
"That can't be right. My parents and husband wouldn't let that happen." Keiko rationalized, pushing Hao at the back of her mind. Yoh is different from Hao. A guardian spirit of that caliber cannot connect to a child unless it has frequented the individual. That would mean Yoh has played with the spirit to obtain its trust. Yoh trusts spirits. However, that would also mean Yoh was alone most of the time. "But if it has bonded with him, then..."
" You may consider the Spirit of Earth as your child's first guardian spirit. " The kami concluded. Keiko was at a loss. She wasn't sure how this had happened and feared her child's future. Fortunately, Ame-no-Tajikarao held an answer. "I propose your child stay in the temple for the time being... Unless you will let your family handle his case."
"..." Keiko weighed her options. Right now, barely anyone is watching over Yoh. If Yoh were to stay in the temple, she and her colleagues could pay attention to him. More importantly, the deities visiting the temple could assist and monitor the Spirit of Earth. On the other hand, her parents will wonder what is wrong and possibly misunderstand the situation. For her parents, Yoh is the next Yohken who will kill Hao. Once that image dissipates, what will happen next?
'I wish you could speak...' Keiko turned her head, watching the Spirit of Earth float into the room with a four-leaf clover on its head. Its pink glowing eyes stare at her, then towards the child. It laid the plant next to the bed and rested on the floor.