鬼.

❛ Listen,” starts Matyáš with a frown, arms crossed firmly in front of his chest as he stares down this random brat he’s found. “These alley-ways are not someplace you want to be hanging around.” 

… or so Mat says, but he doubts that there’s any real trouble lurking around in broad daylight, especially when school is supposedly in session. At least he thinks that Japan’s schools are in session right now. He’s not entirely sure, it’s been a while since he last visited the country - over a decade at least - and he hadn’t been too interested in the school system the last time he was here.

School and danger aside, he still wants the alley clear. He has things to do, people to hunt down. A brat in his way is only going to slow things down. “I’m sure you have better things to do than just loiter around here.” Though, he’s not one to talk. 

it had been a typical day for hana, one that consisted of finding school a boring chore and therefore skipping it altogether. amidamaru had long given up on reprimanding him or trying to set him straight with vague threats of how tamao was going to react if she found out. 

so, he set out on no particular path, simply walking wherever the wind took him with his orange headphones snugly fitting over his ears to drown out any noise. particularly amidamaru. it was how hana ended up walking down an alleyway without much thought.

he was ready to pass by the man without so much as acknowledging him, but then he began talking and his amber eyes had zeroed in on it. he popped one earphone off, his eyes narrowing at the man. 

Great…another Asakura…

Ren had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. How many Asakuras were out there? And why, oh why, did they seem to be constantly drawn to him?! And to annoy him no less.

Was there ever a moment of peace for him? He was just appreciating the view that was the Great Spirit for heaven’s sake! Ren could feel the vein pop out on his head the more the boy spoke.

And then he actually touched his hair..

“Buzz off kid!” Ren took a few steps back and instantly took out his Basontou, pointing it at the blond. There was something about him that gave Ren a nagging feeling…and it wasn’t just the fact he bore the Asakura surname like a certain someone he knew.

“ woah, woah -- you sure are prickly, ” he comments, hands shooting up defensively as soon as the sharp end of Basontou is glaring straight at him. hana is certain that if he pushes the wrong buttons, he might go back to hao sooner than he wanted to. the thought alone pulls his lips in a deep frown, and he takes a step back from the tao heir. 

the curiosity over the hairstyle choice does not die down, in fact, it grows as men’s own soft tongari crosses his mind; the similarity is definitely there, but the young asakura is unable to decide which one he prefers. there is the refined cool look of ren's pointy and sharp tongari, but somehow, the soft poop-like one of men is more aesthetically pleasing.

He doesn’t mind being called useless, or stranger, or ignorant. Hana can call him whatever he wants, if it helps him release some of those feelings from his constricted heart.

“Thank you,” He starts as his weapons disappear into the ether. “I didn’t wanna fight anymore either.”

It occurs to this version of Yoh that he’s not welcome by Hana, and for reasons beyond just being a projection and not the actual, present Yoh Asakura. But that doesn’t mean he’ll be okay with just letting Hana go away with the pain he can sense he holds inside. That’s never been his way of doing things. Even if he can’t give him the love he is missing, he holds the knowledge that Hana craves for.

“Well, maybe I shouldn’t care. But I do care, not because I’m saying it, but ‘cause you will need it if you want to survive what’s coming.”

Yoh squats down softly and rests his arms on his legs, looking into Hana’s eyes with earnest.

“…And we can fix that. Hi, I’m Yoh Asakura, 14 years old. Ask me anything.”

there is a sudden urge to roll his eyes at this version of yoh, to dismiss his words because they hold no substance, nothing of significance. it is the simple playback of a file named ‘asakura yoh: sympathy’ that the great spirits have handy. if hana had to guess, there are probably several versions of this file, some more compassionate and emotional than others. whatever would serve the occasion. 

but, he still listens intently as he speaks, and berates himself for doing so, because he finds himself clinging to the word ‘care’. but, why would a projection care? one that wouldn’t even exist if hao didn’t deem it necessary for his growth. 

hana scoffs, his growth, all to benefit his uncle in the tournament that is happening because of him. what a nutjob. and he is suddenly face-to-face with his fourteen year old dad and his instinctual reaction is to flinch away. and kick him in his stomach for daring to come so close.

real good back massage: look sometimes your back hurts and you want a really strong and hot person to crack every bone in it. maybe your back hurts all the fuckin time and you really just need a good shoulder rub and you'll melt like the wicked witch of the west. you are so incredibly valid.

Of all the things Sakura was coming to learn under Tsunade’s wing, one of them was the finer details that came with running a village. As she and Shizune were the Senju’s right and left hands, while Shizune did most of the heavy-lifting as leader of the Medic Corps, it left Sakura behind as the Hokage’s aide-de-campe. Aside from the regular training she received in combat and medical ninjutsu in shifts in the hospital, she was learning things that few were ableto. Some might decry her role as a disciple to some rank of a glorified secretary, Sakura found she didn’t really mind. Helping Tsunade with her day-to-day work lent a sense of importance, and with it, knowledge on things she otherwise would’ve never been privy to, some of which included access to high-security areas of the Konoha Archives and then some. 

That day certainly fell under the umbrella of the tedious and mundane, but Sakura was still committed and rather serious about any work allotted to her, which included a joint inspection from what usually would’ve been done with Konoha’s civil engineering bureau and the Barrier Team who kept detailed records of the breaches and weaknesses within the miles-long perimeter wall that compassed the village. 

Which meant that Inoichi Yamanaka and one of said civil engineers would’ve made these rounds, but that day, it fell on Sakura. Having begun at six sharp that morning, it was already noon and Sakura found herself feeling peckish from the lack of lunch, going over a checklist and notes she’d written with a rapidly cramping hand, wishing the break would come… even though it wouldn’t be until they finished the gate and continued on their way.

Yet, a figure approaching in the distance caused her brow to furrow, and she strode towards the teen authoritatively. 

“Hey, stop where you are! Who are you and what are you doing here?”

hana has lost count of the times he’s been asked that very question ever since he entered the asura realms, but it did not mean it didn’t invoke his ire each and every time. how many times will he be forced to go through this before he can leave and return to his physical body?

the woman before him awfully resembled tamao in appearance, with their natural roseate tresses that, despite the difference in length, nearly matched in shade. hana could sense the energy in the woman shift to something more imposing, in a manner different to the girl that took him in all those years ago. where tamao was all smiles and a frightening aura that left no room for defiance, the one in front of him was scary from the get-go, but not enough to scare off his guts.

He hated this.

Ren couldn’t stand the guilt he had allowed to take over Hana. He was just a child who had seen what he shouldn’t have, who was going through an awful time that he never should have had to face. Ren had hoped neither children would ever have to go through the hardships of life, at least not such painful ones. Men didn’t deserve to have lost his mother so abruptly like this. Hana didn’t deserve to lose such an important figure in his life. 

He had to be strong for them. He was their only pillar now.

Ren let Hana speak, let him say his frustrations, his pain, let him cry his eyes out if he so wished. He wouldn’t stop him, it was better to let it out than bottling the pain up. He knew from experience it wasn’t good to do so.

As Hana spoke, Ren walked with the boy in his arms towards his room, feeling Hana’s hands tightening around his shirt and the tears soaking it.

“Hana,” Ren hid the pain in his own voice, for the boy “It’s not your fault. There was…” no..saying there was nothing he could’ve done was the worst thing to say right now…he had to be careful with what he said “…She was long gone…” it hurt to say it but it was true. And the truth hurt.

“You should get some rest if you can.” he finally placed the boy on the bed, running his hand through his locks one last time “..Tomorrow will be long.” 

hana felt as though a crater was scooped out of his middle, the space left in its wake filled with the bloody tears of his weeping heart. it drowned his lungs, leaving a suffocating nausea behind. there were words being muttered to him, he realised belatedly, ren's words. and his words are played over and over in his head as if his mind was a broken telephone that picked up on more transmissions eventually. it was meant to be comforting, he knew, but the effect it had was quite the opposite. and the contempt for himself grew with the emotions it brought, the things it forces him to say.

" she wasn't long gone, she was -- " he heaves out, his breath hitching painfully as the mattress dimples under his weight. when did they get to his room? " she was -- she had just gone, because -- " his brain mills for a way to express what he felt and saw earlier that day, a way that won't cause further harm and damage to his mentor.

a way that won't earn him a somber look, a thinly veiled worry in his voice.

so, hana clams up. to spare ren from any further heartbreak that he barely has had the time to deal with, because he put men and hana first. when it should have been just men and himself. ren needs to be with his son. he shouldn't have even taken the time to check on him.

" i'll -- yeah. you too. " he whispers, and even that feels as though it's scratching his throat raw. like it took too much energy. tears clump his eyelashes together before leaving a wet track down his cheeks, but no more fresh tears come after. he willed them away just as he tried to will away the panic that crawled at the edges of his mind, because he knew ren would leave him alone soon. too soon.

he wasn’t ready to be alone, to face his own thoughts and feelings and impulses. the young asakura wanted to ask ren to stay with him a while longer, but he couldn’t. he’d only recount the day’s horrible events to the man who just lost his beautiful wife, the mother of his wonderful son.

hana couldn't be selfish, not at this crucial moment. men, his little brother, needed his father more than hana would need him. he couldn't take that away, he was not entitled to it.

he should be grateful for what he got.

hana pulls his legs to his chest, hugging his arms tighter around himself to try and fail to fight off the black cloud that rolled in above him hours ago. it was a useless battle, but he fought it anyway. stubbornly too. he had to get over it so he can be strong for them tomorrow.

It was breaking every part of him to hear Men’s cries and outbursts, how he screamed on the top of his lungs how much he wanted to kill those who had taken his mother away. He wanted to find them…he too wanted to tear him to pieces but he would break the promise he had made to Jeanne and to his son. No more killing. They promised that to each other…they didn’t want Men’s life to be covered by sins and blood like theirs had. 

But now…

Ren let Men cry as much as he wanted, let him throw anything at him, any words, any frustrations, just anything. He wasn’t going to stop his son from showing his emotions, he was not his father. But it was breaking him, it was breaking him with how much his once happy boy now had to face this torment of losing his beloved mother who loved him so much. And eventually they settled things down, talked about the right and the wrong, Men hugged him and Ren let his son see his tears, he had to let Men know he wasn’t being cold towards his wife’s death. But he had to be strong for him…for Hana too.

As Ren finally settled Men back in bed -though he was aware his son wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight-, the Tao knew he had someone else to deal with now. The day was far from over and Hana was also a child who had seen what he shouldn’t have. He only had to open the door of the bedroom towards the hallway to see the boy and almost instantly a concerned furrow made its way to his features. Hana looked exhausted..of course he was, using those onis to try and track down the killers had completely drained him. Had it not been for Jun and Pairon, they probably would still be looking for him.

Ren wasn’t mad. Nor did he have the strength to be. The concern for both children was much bigger.

“Hana.” he called softly, kneeling down in front of the blond boy, noticing the tremors that covered the boy’s body.

Ren extended his longer arms towards the boy, wrapped them around his shoulders and head before pulling him to his chest. Just like he had done to Men not too long ago…with the exception Hana was just silent, no screaming. Ren tightened the hug, even rested for a while his face on the top of the boy’s head, running from time to time his finger across the blond locks. A kind of affection that Ren didn’t show everyday but right now didn’t care to even think about it.

“…Xie xie, Hana…” the same words he had once said, albeit internally, to the boy’s father.

“Come..let’s get you to bed.” Hana was taller and by consequence heavier than Men, the five (almost six) year difference between the two being quite evident but not even that stopped Ren from doing the same as he had done with his son previously.  Pulling the boy’s arms towards him, Ren lifted him in his own arms before standing up and carrying him to his bedroom.

Today both these boys had seen and gone through things and a pain Ren had long desired to never see them going through.

It was up to him to keep protecting them as much as he could.

it had been nearly a full three days that hana spent in the great spirit's recollection of the shaman fight, and suffice to say it was a long, wild ride. as shamans from all corners of the world began gathering in patch village, the atmosphere shifted from one of serenity and wonderment to tension, aggression, and in parts, fear. it made his skin crawl, but he couldn't necessarily blame them; groups of shamans were rapidly established and some were even eliminated before the official fights began. hana wondered if that was why such foul play was present in the flower of maize when it hasn't even officially begun. for his stay so far, he'd been sticking around his father's group of friends, and he found that some of them were just as annoying as kids as they were as adults. their cognitive development clearly halted unexpectedly during the shaman fight. and during a training session for team ' the ren ', hana conveniently sat on a rock not too far out of earshot, curiously observing them. their chemistry complemented each other well, where one's weaknesses were compromised by another's strengths, and it was seamless. there were still some things to work on, such as communication within the team. it is why hana bursts out laughing the moment ren boasts, rather seriously too, of his overwhelming amount of talent.