Chapter Text
Hao watches his brother run around the playground, arms spread and pretending to be an airplane, weaving between the playground equipment. He is making funny noises, and his thoughts are only on this inane activity. He is happy.
Has Hao ever been this carefree?
Yoh is four years old. At that age, all Hao remembers is the cold and emptiness.
Whatever else, neither Hao nor Yoh were cold in this life. The Spirit of Fire has at least assured that.
As Yoh waves at him, he thinks back to those first months- the panic, the strange sense of responsibility, the sleepless nights and frantic rush to acquire supplies. Some time later, he had been able to secure the aid of Brocken, and through him ensured a steady supply of baby formula, diapers, clothes, and children’s toys, all of which were indispensable then. Even now, Brocken is out stocking food, which Hao will later cook.
It is odd, to be raising half of his own soul. Yoh hasn’t inherited any of their memories, but Hao will- very grudgingly- admit he sees himself in Yoh. Strong empathy, a desire for carefree peace, and being different from others.
Yoh doesn’t need Reishi. Hao is there for that.
Yoh is five when he begins gathering followers in earnest. First in Japan, then they travel to China, the United States, the many countries of Europe, and lastly the United States. Yoh is delighted by the sounds and sights, and Hao has so far kept him away from the more gruesome side of their journey. Hao has only shown him how to form Shikigami, and Yoh has never known to fear the Spirit of Fire. He never had any cause to.
Yoh is six, and he wants to meet other children. He has started talking about school, about some goings on in the humans world. Television. Music. Luchist assures Hao this is perfectly normal for children, and even suggests a boarding school in Japan. Hao is loathe to let Yoh anywhere outside of his reach, much less alone with his followers, who might think to use Yoh against him. Yoh will eventually be strong enough to protect himself, but that day is far off. For now, his silly brother can’t even fall from a tree without hurting himself. What if he climbs the roof of the school and trips, and no one is there to set the broken bones back into place?
Yoh is seven, throws his first ever temper tantrum, and they come to a compromise. Hao will stay for a year in one place, and Yoh will go to school. Luchist is surprisingly aware of the details of enrollment, and all the paperwork needed to make them official residents. The house is also a step up from the mish-mash of accommodation on the road.
They pick an international school. Or rather- Yoh picks an international school, because the students there are from all sorts of places, and Yoh’s quirks meld with the dizzying array of diplomat and businessperson children. It’s impressive how quickly they start talking about travels abroad, about the countries each of them has been to. Yoh does indeed climb up onto the school’s roof, thought it’s not him that tripped.
Hao is thoroughly amused when Luchist- officially their guardian- is left explaining the situation to the principal.
They stay longer. They travel during the school holidays, and Hao recruits more people.
Yoh is ten. Following the rumors of many Oni spawning, Hao finds another Reishi user. He can’t read her- as terrifying a prospect as it is intriguing. He offers her a place. She refuses. He burns the Oni. He burns all the Oni, until she is left staring at him in wonder and horror.
Yoh is delighted when Hao brings her in. Luchist procures another house to accommodate their growing crew.
Yoh is eleven.
In the Republic of South Africa, as Hao carefully manipulates the Spirit of Fire into water to supply them in the harsh desert conditions, they find a baby with Reishi. She is half dead, with sunken eyes and no more energy to cry.
It is annoyingly hard to get baby formula in the area.
Yoh is also annoyingly sad and exceedingly hard to cheer up until the newly christened Ohachiyo is well taken care of. His good mood is unfortunately temporary, as Yoh becomes inconsolable again the more they see of the country. To much protest, Hao decides to cut the trip short.
They come back to find Anna is also enrolled in the school. Yoh seems to start entering what Luchist calls "the rebellious teenage phase." Apparently Yoh was well behaved as is, and it is inevitable that he finally wants some independence. Hao personally thinks Anna and that human friend of Yoh’s are both a bad influence, and that said independence could do with less breaking things.
On the positive side, he seems to be more motivated to train. It would be a good time for Yoh to have a guardian spirit of his own. Hao briefly contemplates breaking out another of the Grand Spirits, but Yoh might not yet be able to handle one. Before he can decide on a solution, they’re joined by the spirit of some Samurai, cheerfully tugged along by Yoh. When asked what happened, none of his followers have any reasonable answer.
The Samurai is unreasonably terrified of the Spirit of Fire. It would be amusing if it didn’t make training difficult.
A short few weeks later Hao really starts to wonder if he shouldn’t shadow his brother again, because how and where did the heir of the Tao family find his way to their place? Yoh’s thoughts are a jumbled, incomprehensible mess, no one knows quite what happened again, and Anna is smirking in his face.
Yoh is twelve, and Hao loses his Reishi.