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Word count: 4950
Rating: sfw
Fandom: Shaman King
Note: reincarnated!OC, Childhood Arc. Rework. (fiction postata, nella sua prima stesura, su ff.net sotto lo stesso titolo e con la stessa protagonista)
It was one random day when she appeared in a dream.
Everything was silent and calm as usual in The Plains: Karura had the recurrent dream of a vast, green meadowland, where a fresh breeze always blew kindly through the high grass. She gave it that name one night, on a whim, and kept referring to it like so.
The reincarnated girl was usually alone there, in a “body” of her real age but the colors of her new self: it was like seeing herself grown up, her long—now dark blonde and straight—hair that moved along with the wind; with her body wrapped in a long, red yukata with a white obi, she usually walked around as she thought of the upcoming problems in her life.
She was actually trying to create a flower crown with daisies when she heard an unfamiliar rustling behind her, followed by the voice of a female stranger.
«It's quite difficult, isn't it?» a woman with long, blonde hair asked kindly, making the other girl turn to her. She knelt down beside her, gently taking the halfway—unsuccessfully—made crown in her hands. «Making flower crowns is a bit tricky at the beginning, but what do they say? Practice makes perfect.»
As she spoke, she skillfully created a ring of neatly combined flowers that earned a light gasp from the younger one.
«Wow... I couldn't do that for saving my life, no matter how much I tried... Could you please teach me?» Karura asked hopefully, still looking back and forth between the crown and the stranger face, who was still smiling at her.
Once again, the familiar feeling she had the first time she met Keiko came back: the girl learned to trust her sensations even more than she did before, as Joey, as they never failed to be right up. And since she was sure this was her dream world and that nobody else should be there, she was fairly convinced that this woman was either some kind of conscience or the incipit of a multiple personality disorder.
She so hoped it was the former.
«Don't worry, child. Neither of your assumptions are right, but I can assure you you're not going crazy.» the kind stranger said in a comforting tone, before adding, as if it was an afterthought. «Well, as much as your situation might be considered not crazy.»
That phrase didn't go well with Karura, who immediately set on defense: one thing was knowing the absurdity of it all yourself, another was being told that by another. «If you're not part of me, then who the hell are you? And please, please don't be the classic mysterious figure-slash-oracle that always gives impossible hints and never useful information. Please, I could go crazy by myself without any additional help and stress.»
It was the first proper dialogue she had after dying and her answers were borderline rude. So much for a nice start, huh? Fortunately, the other woman didn't seem to mind in the slightest.
«You're very direct about this. Some people go would be ecstatic about being in this situation, with a voice in their head that tells them to link all the dots together.» she joked lightly, tapping her delicate fingers on her lips.
Karura simply sighed after a few moments of intense staring. «Only an immature child would enjoy the game and I like to consider myself a little too old for that. Also, I already have some kind of freaky sixth sense for equally freaky things, like the little nudging in the back of my head that tells me I should know who you are, despite this being the first time we meet.»
«Oh, do you? Well, this makes things easier for me and for you, probably.»
The blonde woman didn't seem to be surprised by that answer, as if she expected it actually. She shifted a bit closer to the reincarnated girl, looking at her carefully while pondering about something. Karura stared back at her, feeling a bit strange: worried, expectant, hopeful.
«There's no point in hitting around the bush, right? Let's just get over with it.» the girl finally mumbled; the woman smiled a bit more and nodded. «My name is Karura and you are...?»
«Asanoha. Asanoha Douji.» The younger soul's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates at the mention of her full name. «I see my name rings a bell. You know who I am and who my son is.»
Before she even realized it, Karura was answering that indirect question with a shaky voice: if there was something that Joey remembered still perfectly, it was the backstory about the main antagonist of the series. For some reasons, that part of the manga was strongly engraved into her mind. «Your son, Asaha Douji... Hao, the Ying Yang shaman and founder of the Asakura family.»
Asanoha nodded slowly. «I need your help, Karura. The help of my reincarnation.»
Silence followed that sentence and the reincarnated girl's eyes widened even more if possible. It didn't take much to her to elaborate the meaning of those simple words.
When it clicked in her mind, she couldn't help but scream.
«I'm your WHAT?!»
«My reincarnation, or better... you're the incarnation of what I couldn't give to someone I deeply care for.» the older woman explained with patience, keeping her hands joined on her lap. Despite her kind tone, though, there was a grave air around her: the matter she wanted to discuss, the reason she was there and not in the Otherworld as it was for the other spirits, they were of absolute importance for the ghost. «I need you to be there for him, Karura, and give him the love I couldn't—»
«Wait, wait, wait—Okay, listen. Let's all calm down here, I'm not a mother, not even a sister... I don't know how to act in the majority of situations and you are telling me that I should become the mean for your love to reach your son?!»
«Exactly.»
Once again, there was sheer silence: the only sound between them was the light howling of the wind. That was, until Karura finally found her voice again.
«... you are the crazy one here, Asanoha. I can't—»
«You know about his—our past, right?»
The child paused. «I... I do remember what happened to him after your... departure... but not the whole story. Just... he really misses you, you know. He'd been looking everywhere for you all these years.»
Asanoha's expression grew sad, sorrowful, as she lowered her eyes on the vibrant green of grass. Her voice turned into a light murmur. «I know. However, until he manages to let go of all that resentment and loathing towards humanity, he'll never be ready to see me.»
«I never understood that part... his hate is blinding him that much he can't even sense your presence?»
The woman nodded slowly. «That's why I want you to go to him. With a physical reminder of me and your own affection towards him, maybe he'll be saved before he does something stupid.» she finally raised her eyes to look at her reincarnation's face, who had an incredulous, dumbstruck expression on.
Asanoha snorted. «I know you like him, Karura. You never blamed him for what he did, even before you found out about his true story, right? That's what he always missed since my death. Someone who loved him from the bottom of her heart, honestly and kindly.»
The younger one took a long breath—one, two, multiple times; as many as needed to calm down and try to lift the heaviness she began to feel in her chest— with her eyes closed.
There it was, the catch: things happened for a reason, right? She should have known.
A new life, a new purpose; one thing she didn't have, or didn't find yet, in her previous life was a purpose. Now that she had one, she wasn't really sure about what to do with it. She wasn't sure she would be able to accomplish it.
Feeling her hesitance, the woman put her hands on her younger one's shoulder, gripping her tightly. «Maybe you don't realize it, but you naturally sense people who have a sorrowful past and desire to stay beside them. Not to change them, but to try to make them feel better and accepted. It's kind of instinctive, isn't it?»
Karura couldn't deny.
As Joey, she often joked about her innate ability to fall for the characters that would became sooner or later the main antagonist of the series she was watching or reading. Alex was the one that more often than not teased her about it, just as Joey teased her back for liking the most easy-going and flirty ones.
A sense of melancholy and nostalgia washed over her at those happy memories.
She had never been alone, never. And her mother—her kind, loving mother—always said that she was all bark and no bite, because she always got mad easily but was also very kind and forgiving. Only a few times she refused to let her anger go, but those were a specific case; there were still things she couldn't forgive, let alone forget, things she wanted revenge for.
So, in a sense, Karura understood why Hao was so enraged with the humans, thus she couldn't really blame him for that. He was human too and humans were often led by their emotions. She knew and didn't want him to succumb to rage and bitterness more than needed.
«I... I promise I will try to do something about it...»
Finally finding her voice once again, Karura managed to choke out those words. She didn't realize until then, but she was slightly trembling. Her eyes, though, showed an intense emotion; decision, honesty, affection.
«He's going to be my brother—they're going to be my brothers... And curse me if they couldn't count on their older sister.»
Asanoha could only smile and hug the other soul, with a soft “thank you” that probably sounded more emotional than intended.
After two years and half from her rebirth, the child was already able to walk and talk—and not the “mama/dada” kind of talking. Despite her being a bit silent by nature, she was able to speak like the adult she was and spent much of her free time having interesting conversations with the little nature spirits that followed her around, since they understood that she was able to see them and willing to humor their strange ideas.
Not every one of them, of course. She didn't like the prospect of dying again and turning into one of those ghost because of a spirit's reckless “fun idea”, but the more acceptable ones she was okay with.
This fact didn't go unnoticed by her family, which of course took her demonstration of apparently natural talent as a signal to start her shamanic training. And so her tranquil days ended in the blink of an eye.
Yohmei seemed to have made training her until she reached her breaking point his purpose of life, or so she thought after one week only of the infamous Asakura training. Karura questioned if one thousand years ago the apprentices of the first Hao went through all that too, only to end up distracting herself and flying flat on her back due to the old man's shikigami.
That was part of her physical training, because apparently a strong shaman was not only capable in shamanic stuff, but also their physique should be strong enough to deal with the spiritual pressure: you can have all the energy you want, but if you can't manage it and draw it out it's completely useless. Which actually made sense to her, too, but still...
If she survived the first year of training—hell, if she survived the first month—she'd happily see her brother's birth and then run away from that torture.
Yeah, as if the Asakuras would let her go that easily.
And it wasn't like she had any mean to survive alone in the world.
However, there was a little perk in that situation: her ability to sense aurae (she finally understood what those little flames she felt were, after a theoretical lesson on energy and spirits) was becoming sharper by the day.
She also found out that she did have some form of control over the summoning of shikigamis, even if only the ones that used fallen leaves and small rocks as a medium. The Kooni, as Yohmei called them.
For some strange reason neither her father nor her mother helped with the training, not in the early stages at least. It looked like it was the family head's task to work the heirs out to be strong and capable shamans in view of the Tournament; not that she minded who was her personal slave driver, as long as there was just one of them.
She sighed in her mind, plopping down on her futon face first after a well deserved shower.
Her body ached from all the exercises and spar fights Yohmei forced her in those days, but she didn't dare to complain: she was too tired to do that and really, really wanted to take everything she could out of her sensei, to become strong and become a good shaman.
Thinking about it, it occurred to her that she'd be in need at least of a guardian spirit. She had nothing against Kooni, but she didn't think they were the best choice as fighting companions for a tournament with Hao and Saigan Sati and the Iron Maiden in it.
Karura promised to herself to bring the matter up with her family, maybe when she wasn't too exhausted to lift a limb.
In that state of mind she barely noticed falling asleep, until she entered The Plains of course. There that was a curious change: one night, instead of seeing only the seemingly endless green area, she found herself in a clearing surrounded by many trees. Different aspect was, right in the center of it there was a little natural pool with crystalline water, which reflected the warm colors of the sunset.
The reincarnated child looked around a bit suspicious, but before she could ask even herself about the new differences a voice called up to her.
«Nice, right? I always liked the atmosphere of the sun setting, especially when we were still together...»
The other didn't pry for information, already imagining who was the woman referring to; she just got closer and hugged her lightly.
Over the time, after many meetings and talks (mainly of their past lives and experiences; Karura found herself easily speaking with someone she once thought be a mere product of a mangaka's mind), the younger soul became rather affectionate towards the blonde. Yes, that same woman was quite scary when angered and Karura lived the unfortunate experience once, but otherwise she was really friendly and wise.
«So, basically my mind has become a kaleidoscope environment?»
Asanoha laughed a bit, kindly freeing herself from the hug. «That's not quite right, child. Let's just say that as you mature and grow, this place will change accordingly.»
Karura looked around once again, tucking one strand of stray dark blonde hair behind her ear just as the usual breeze made it swing back and forth. Earth, Wind and now Water. The girl found the coincidence of having three out of five of the natural elements in the series pretty strange, but decided to not look too much into it: she had the bad habit to look for secret meanings to menial things after all.
«So, Karura... Is everything alright with your training?» Asanoha asked after a bit. It was the classic question between them, to which the other girl usually answered by venting out about the harsh exercises Yohmei put her through.
Except, that night the reincarnated child kept silent for a long time. «Hey, Asano... Did you ever learn some shamanic techniques yourself?» she suddenly asked, out of nowhere.
While she had been reading Shaman King, Joey often thought about Hao's mother and her ability to see ghosts: it should have come from somewhere, right? Like, she probably was a natural talent, or maybe it was her spiritual heritage. Maybe the first Hao's grandparents were powerful shamans too, that's why both him and his mother were “blessed” with that kind of power.
Yet again, that same headcanon she had was crushed in the same moment she read that Asanoha died by the hands of some asshole monk and his lackeys: the girl didn't remember the details—she had been crying much in that part that she had in mind only blurred images—but the disgust, the rage... oh, those were clearly still engraved in her memory.
That man, the responsible of Asanoha's death, deserved the end he met by the hands of a little, talented shaman.
Sometimes even Karura couldn't help but find those people, those unworthy creatures, that fed on the others' fears really unsettling and undeserving to even breathe the same air as—
«Karura, stop. Whatever you're thinking, don't go there.»
The girl blinked a few times, turning to the woman who was looking at her with a severe expression; snorting in response, she turned away again and began walking towards the small lake, whose waters had seemingly turned black. Without a word, she stepped into the cold water until it reached her hips: water always had a calming effect on her nerves.
After a few moments, Asanoha spoke up again answering her previous question. «I'm not a shaman, even if I got to learn a few tricks from the spirits I spoke to.» Her expression turned softer then. «Asaha always complained about how I was always able to track him down when we played hide-and-seek together.»
«... You cheated against a child in a children's game?»
«It was not cheating, I was being sure that he didn't go too far away as I told him.»
Karura looked at the woman skeptically, with an eyebrow raised: the slight pout on her lips told a different tale. For someone a thousand years old, Asanoha could act quite like a child sometimes. It didn't take long before the two ended up giggling together at their own exchange and expressions.
The main family members were rarely present all together, but both parents decided that for their daughter's birthday they'd try to keep themselves free to celebrate with her. Usually the only ones the child met on a daily basis were Yohmei and Kino, since Mikihisa was usually up in the mountains for his ascetic training and Keiko had also her work in the “normal” world to keep track of.
That homely situation was really similar to Joey's, so Karura didn't mind it in the slightest. It came as natural to her, so she accepted it easily—which in the beginning kind of worried her family, because they thought the child might have had some kind of bitterness against them; she didn't yet, so she forced herself to explain that she was aware of the importance of their duties and everything. The parents looked at her with a mixture of surprise, a bit of sadness and gratefulness.
Karura was still obviously happy that her family was having lunch together for once. As soon as Keiko and Mikihisa were in sight, the child ran up to them and gave them a welcome back hug each; as she approached her mother, though, she felt something different about her: there was a faint, yet slowly growing, presence in the woman's—oh.
Oh.
«... pregnant.» the child mumbled to herself, her eyes as big as dinner plates: Keiko was pregnant, she was pregnant with the twins. She screamed in her mind, barely missing her mother's surprised expression.
«Karura, you... can you sense it?» Keiko asked, her voice a little higher than usual; she the smiled warmly, caressing her head lightly. «We found out yesterday and decided to make you all a little surprise.»
Yeah, a surprise. The reincarnated girl wanted to laugh at her phrase, knowing already how much of a little surprise they were going to have in a few months. Nonetheless, she was ecstatic at the news and didn't miss her occasion to jump both the adults and hug them again.
That was the best birthday present she could ever ask for.
Lunch went extremely well on every side: similarly to the youngest Asakura, the elders were incredibly happy after they heard the news. Karura swore that she saw Yohmei wipe away what looked like tears of joy from his eyes.
«I wonder if it's a boy or a girl. I wouldn't mind another baby girl, but...»
Kino slapped her husband with scary precision for a blind woman. «Whatever they are, they should be welcomed to this family in any case. I know you want a boy, but children are always a blessing, no matter their gender.»
«We did our best, right Mikihisa?» Keiko asked too, a bit of a teasing tone in her voice. Her husband blushed a bit and almost choked on the rice he was eating, earning a chuckle from everyone. The woman then turned to the child, smiling. «Would you like to have a brother or a sister, Karura?»
The answer came immediately. «I want two baby brothers!»
And Mikihisa definitely choked on thin air, together with Yohmei.
If asked, the reincarnated girl would probably admit that she was deliberately messing with them, acting childishly and oblivious, since she already knew what gender the baby—babies—would be. It was worth it though, seeing the shocked expression on the two males' faces while her mother and grandmother simply chuckled and smiled at her.
Plus, it was her freaking third birthday (as Joey she'd be twenty-six—and how strange it was to be spiritually older than your parents?): she could do what she liked to do one day per year, right? She thought so, therefore she enjoyed the sensation of peace and happiness of her family.
«Ah, before I forget!» Karura piped up again, her eyes a bit wide with excitement; she turned to her family members one by one while talking. «I've been thinking... when will I be able to get a guardian spirit? It's someone indispensable for a shaman, isn't it? How should I look for them?»
«Isn't it a bit too early to think about it, child? You've just started your training.»
«But Granny! I've been doing good enough, haven't I?» the reincarnated girl whined childishly, with a cute pout on her lips. «I wasn't able to defeat Grandpa, but that's because he's too awesome for me...»
The young one knew that such an “honest” compliment would stroke the older man's ego, more so coming from his favorite little student; in fact, she could see Yohmei's chest puff slightly up with pride at her words. Inwardly, she smiled and congratulated herself.
«Your grandmother is right, but I suppose it would not hurt to start to think about which guardian spirit suits you better, right?»
In the end, she got the old man where she wanted. Now, she only had to find a spirit, complete her training, get ready for the freaking tournament and try to be a good sister to both Yoh and Hao. And of course try to live through puberty again.
Easy enough, right?
Karura so wanted to shoot herself in a leg sometimes. Virtually, of course, because she really didn't want to die again so early.
Time passed slowly but steadily, days repeating in the usual routine for everyone: Keiko kept working until her pregnancy reached the sixth-seventh month (being a strong woman she was really firm on her decision; she knew her body well and having already been through it once already knew the signs of the “time limit” she had before she'd be forced to rest), much to her husband's worry. He trusted her, he really did, but he didn't want to see her over-stressing herself in such a delicate state.
Just as the children grew safely in their mother's body, the other young Asakura progressed in her training day after day with steady results, much to everyone's satisfaction.
Everything was going serenely, until that prediction came.
Yohmei and Kino knew too well that the time may come, but hoped until the last moment that their fate would be kinder at least to their daughter. It wasn't the case, of course: Hao's spirit was going to be reincarnated into this world and seemingly choose the body of Asakura Keiko—or, to be more precise, one of her children's—to complete that goal.
The family head tried again and again with the prediction to see if there was a mistake of some sorts, but the result was always the same: his dearest daughter would give birth to the Asakura's sworn enemy and, worst of it all, they even couldn't discern which one of the two babies would be Hao's body. They had a duty, namely stopping the cursed cycle of reincarnation of that monster named Asakura Hao, and they had to accomplish it no matter what.
This was what Keiko explained to her daughter that same day which the terrible news was given. The woman told her that she'd been raised as a priestess, one that had to defend the world from the most dangerous spirit ever seen; it was her destiny and she could never escape it, only face it and get over it.
Karura barely kept herself from snorting as she thought about how it was an utterly and completely stupid reasoning: everyone had the right to choose his or her path and, as much as she once joked about “the laws of universe”, the reincarnated girl didn't believe that there was only one choice. She wouldn't take that bullshit, no sir. Her existence was the proof of it, her knowledge of the future events could even alter the fate Keiko so much thought about as unchangeable.
If she told them that Hao was the first born, Yohmei wouldn't have that moment of hesitation that caused him to fail at his task. She might as well say it was her intuition, or her sixth sense, telling her that and the Asakura might just roll with it and prevent all the killing, the sacrifices, the pain for many people...
But.
But if she did that, there were others that would keep suffering in condition even worse than death itself.
A (hopefully) peaceful rest in the Spirit King society, among other souls was a dream if compared to derision, sorrow, hunger and pity. At least, in her opinion. She lost people dear to her once and the emotions she felt were so strong, so physically painful that she wished she couldn't feel anything anymore.
Joey had never been a strong person, not physically nor emotionally. Not in those situation.
She had wanted to be saved from all that suffering (which, in comparison to what—for example—Broken Meyer or Opacho went through, was merely a trivial occurrence), so she couldn't—no, she didn't want to leave them without their savior. She came to care more for them as she read their stories, than for the actual innocent victims of Hao's understandable, yet not justifiable, wrath.
She knew something was wrong with her mind sometimes and questioned again and again Asanoha's choice, but in the end she'd only put the matter aside and focus on her present, on what she could do for both Hao and Yoh.
They were the most important thing for her in that moment.
Gathering all her strength to not get away from her biological mother from disgust, the little girl finally decided to speak after the long, long explanation.
«Mom... you're really going to let them get killed?»
Keiko looked down at her daughter, whose head was resting on her lap while she carefully caressed her hair, finding her large brown eyes staring up at her with disappointment mixed with sheer determination—something she never saw in them before, as much as she noticed that those eyes were much older than her little girl looked like. They were not the eyes of an elder like Yohmei, but neither a three-almost four years old child's. The knowledge hidden in those deep pools of chocolate sometimes scared her a bit.
It sometimes felt like Keiko was the daughter and Karura the mother.
«It... it must be done, Karura. It's a burden that we—that I, as an Asakura, have to carry. Mikihisa and I never desired this turn of events, but we have decided to face it.» her voice a bit shaky, the woman pronounced those word with the most calm and firm voice she could muster.
Only to get a loud snort in response.
«Did it never occur to you that maybe Hao's wrath is fueled by that kind of thinking? Eliminate what you don't like, sacrifice your children's lives for the greater good... is it really worth it, Keiko?»
The Asakura heiress was frozen in place, as if the temperature had suddenly dropped. It was just her imagination, though, as the only coldness in the room came from her child's voice: Karura never used that tone, she never called her by name and most of all she never got away from her affectionate gestures as she did in that moment.
As Keiko looked at her small daughter's retreating back, she could swear that only for the briefest of moments a taller, translucent image overlapped Karura's. It was gone in the blink of an eye, but left the young mother with more questions than before.
A sudden breeze blew in the silent room, following the little girl's path just as she was closing the fusuma, making her short hair swing lightly.
