disclaimer: I do not own it.

kina: I finally reposted this thing...gomen nasai to my readers. I was fixing it up.

kasu: thank you kali-chan for helping!

kina: kali-chan is my cousin. anywho, enjoy the reposted version of Nightfall!

-----

Asakura hao glared furiously at his twin who stood, panting before him. He hated the little brat. Yoh Asakura, his enemy, his brother, his other half. How he had come to have such a nuisance for a brother was beyond him, but he no longer cared at that point. The only thing that was on his mind, was to kill him. Yes, kill Yoh.

'Why can't you understand Hao, humans are trying to help the world!' Yoh said, practically shouting.

'Humans are pathetic, they deserve to perish with the rest of you weakling shaman!' Hao spat.

'And if you do win and revamp the world, what then?! What will you do after you've fulfilled your 'dream'? You'll die eventually, alone and miserable!'

'That's not true!' Hao told him, his spirit of fire firmly grasping Yoh and lifting him into the air. 'I am right, I am always right! So don't you dare say stuff about me wen you barely know who I am!' Hao told him, his spirit's grasp around Yoh tightening, making the younger twin scream in pain.

'I know a lot more than you think...' Yoh managed to cough out, staring at Hao who raised an eyebrow at his statement.

'you're lying, you don't know how it is to be alone, to be hated for who you are.' Hao said softly, looking away as he mentally ordered the spirit of fire to put Yoh down.

Yoh gently touched the ground, looking at his brother questionably before taking a daring step towards him. Hao only flinched as he raised his head to look at Yoh, his eyes narrowing as he discovered Yoh's intentions.

'Stay away.' He ordered.

No, Yoh thought mentally as he stopped about a foot in front of Hao. Yoh smiled suddenly as he gently touch Hao's shoulder. Hao looked at him, all signs of anger had left Yoh, nothing but that pureness. He pulled away, glaring at him.

'Stay away.' He repeated.

'Nii-chan, I know perfectly well what it's like, being hated cause you're different from others... Why won't you let me help you?' Yoh asked. Hao clenched his fist, his eyes narrowing to slits as he looked at Yoh.

'Because I don't want your stupid help!' Hao said before roughly punching Yoh in the stomach, sending him flying into a tree a good ten meters away from them. Hao walked up to him, crouching down to see if he had caused any real damage. He sighed and pressed two fingers against Yoh's forehead, chanting something in a low whisper before picking him up. Hao ran a finger along Yoh's jawline before they disappeared in a lick of flames.

-----

Yoh's eyes fluttered open and he slowly sat up, a silent groan escaping his lips when a throbbing pain shot through his head. He whimpered, his fists gripping locks of his hair as he tried to make the pain go away. He dug his head into his knees, tears dwelling at the corner of his eyes. What was happening?

Suddenly, the pain stopped and he froze when a hand touched his shoulder, gesturing for him to raise his head. Yoh looked up into a pair of identical black eyes that seemed to bore into his with a great deal of power. Then a smile graced the long haired boy's lips as yoh tried to develop why the boy looked so much like him.

'Ohayo Otouto, sleep well?' Hao asked, moving away from Yoh's side so that he could walk over to the closet to take something out for him to wear. Yoh blinked then looked at the boy with wide eyes, he had just called him Otouto...did that mean...this boy was his brother?

'Not just you brother, your twin Yoh.' Hao said over his shoulder as he pulled out a simple orange and white kimono, placing it next to Yoh who turned his body so that his legs hung off the side of the bed.

'If you my brother...then why don't I know about you?'

'You don't know about me because you lost your memories.' Hao mused, slipping Yoh out of his shirt and pants, leaving him with a pair of scarlet blue boxers. He slowly helped Yoh with the kimono, tying the sash around his waist before summoning a brush to work with his hair. 'Besides, even before, you knew not of me.'

'Oh...was I not suppose to know you?'

Hao smirked at that, 'No. You weren't.' Hao told him, turning Yoh around so that he could work with the back side of his hair. But Yoh stopped him from doing so as he took Hao's hands, looking into his eyes sort of pleadingly.

'Please tell me.'

Hao's smirk broadened as he nodded and took Yoh's hand, dragging him outside the room and down the hall. Yoh tried to keep up with his 'brothers' fast pace and ended up bumping into him when Hao stopped at a door.

'This is my room...not many get to see it...your the first.' Hao said, unlocking the door and roughly shoving Yoh inside, closing it behind him. The fireplace on the right wall immediately lit up, illuminating the room enough so that Yoh could see everything.

A large bed stood in the middle of the room, the red satin sheets matching the pillows perfectly. There was only one window in the room, a large one that was covered by a black curtain and looked as if it was barely ever opened. There were two sliding doors that led outside, two other doors that lead elsewhere and a bookshelf or two filled to the brim with a certain selection of books.

'You see...I live here with opacho, my most trusted follower. For the past fifteen years, I've been watching over you...making sure that the people around you, mainly our parents, treated you properly. Some time around last year, you ran away because of something you 'father' did and you somehow managed to lose you memories... I found you unconscious in the forest not far from Itsumo.'

'How long was I out?'

'For a good month...don't worry, I took care of you.'

'You mean I was in a coma?' Yoh asked. Hao opened his mouth but then decided to just nod his head, pulling a few books out from one of the shelves.

'I want you to read these, all of it, I don't care how long it takes as long as you read it. Starting next week, when you've gotten most of your strength...and color back, we'll start furyoko training.' Hao said, handing him the three books before heading over towards the dresser where he pulled out a stone tablet.

'Um...what are you talking about?'

Hao looked at him with a blank stare, maybe he over did it a bit to much. 'You don't know anything about furyoko do you?' Hao asked, a frown creasing his lips when Yoh shook his head. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. 'Then we'll start with the basics.'

-----

I looked at my brother with a sort of angered expression before I stared down at the big chasm. Hao didn't really mean what he said did he? Hao only smirked and leaned against one of the trees, his arms crossing over his chest. 'Well?'

'Well what?' I asked, hysterical. He only laughed and tossed me the stone tablet he had shown me back in his room two days ago. I looked at it strangely before back up at my brother who took a seat on the ground.

'you take the path along the side of the chasm until you come to the waterfall where it cuts off. But it doesn't, it leads to a secret cave behind the waterfall. Get to that cave. If you fail, you start all over and I add a penalty.' Hao started explaining.

'What's the penalty?'

'I'm not going to tell you. Now, if you manage to get into the cave, without waking the spirit that lives there, then you can just follow the path until you get to a yawning pool. There and until you get there, you won't be able to eat. You have until five o clock. It's now twelve past one.'

I looked at Hao glumly, he really was going to make me do this. With a sigh, I stepped onto the first of many steps that led down into the fog below. I put the stone tablet in my pocket and took it a step at a time. Sadly, the steps were wood and most of them were slimed so it made it extremely difficult to not fall, and holding onto the walls didn't help, because they were just as slimy.

I yelped suddenly as I slipped and fell off the step, a warm pair of arms just as quickly wrapping themselves around my waist, keeping me from falling to my death below. I looked up at hao who smiled at me for a faint second before dropping me back down right where I started.

'Can't I wear shoes or something?' I asked. Hao just shook his head.

'Think yoh; there's a key to everything, you just got to find the right one.' Hao said. I wasn't sure exactly what he meant but I bet it had something to do with everything he had been teaching me for the past day or so. I frowned as I started counting the steps.

1...2...3...4...5...6...7

I kept going until I reached sixteen where i once against fell and started all over. That was eleven more steps then the last time, I just had to make sure I went real slow.

Then a song popped into my head and I slowly started to hum it, trying to make my nervousness go away. I stopped for a second, I could tell the step before me was way to slippery and I would most likely not be able to jump over it, afraid that, doing so, I would just slip on that one as well.

I thought of what hao said...a key, so if there was a key for everything then was a key to this exercise. I just had to figure out what it was. I closed my eyes, maybe the furyoko I had...was the key and all I had to do was somehow concentrate it all to my feet. I sighed, Hao still hadn't taught me that.

Maybe this was that lesson... to teach me to concentrate my furyoko on a part of my body and keep it there! That is what I had to do. But the question was: how? I closed my eyes and emptied my mind, like hao told me, to find that swirl of energy located somewhere inside my mind. When I had found it...I imagined my feet and then imagined my furyoko swirling around them, making it a grip-type shoe. I slowly opened my eyes and took a step forward, not doing anything until I had my other foot right beside me.

It worked and I slowly stepped onto the other one below me. It creaked but the chasm made it echo. I closed my eyes tight and shrunk back when I heard a low growl coming from the waterfall. I watched in shock as a big, monstrous spirit pulled himself out of the water, his watery eyes glaring at me as if I had just done something very, very wrong. I opened my mouth, oh yeah...this was easy.

The water spirit then attempted to take a swipe at me but I ran forward, not much caring about how slippery the steps were, but how big that hands on that things were ! I yelped and ducked when it shot a wave a water that missed my head by three inches. I swear, Hao must really be enjoying this and when I'm done, I'm gonna hurt him so badly! I saw the waterfall but the spirit got there before me, his face smirking as if it had won.

I took a fighting stance, I wasn't going to lose now...not when I wanted to kick his –and Hao's-- butt so badly. I was in no mood as I grabbed the stone tablet hao had given me earlier. I looked at it once more before running towards the spirit, plunging the rock into his watery chest. The spirit suddenly disappeared and I just stood there, totally confused. Wait...how did I do that?

/Good job Otouto./ I heard Hao praise me mentally and I smiled, it felt nice to get a comment like that instead of a negative one complaining about how lazy I am or something else Hao found wrong with me. So without another thought about the spirit or what could be in the cave, I ran inside and immediately fell down a tunnel. It was literally one thing after the other today.

When I finally landed on something, that I suspected was the floor, I tried to look around. It was so dark... I couldn't see a single thing. I groaned and reached out, hoping to find some sort of a wall but instead I just kept walking forward until my hand pressed against one. I believe this was a senses test...

one that I couldn't use my eyes for. But I had my ears, nose and touch to use in this situation. Somehow, it felt like an exam...

I walked forward and kept doing such until I hit another wall, turning left down the path. I kept doing this for what seemed like a long time until I finally saw a light coming from around the corner. I stopped, this could be a trap. I banged my head against the wall, why did Hao have to make things so hard. With a sigh, I stepped around the corner and found some pool type of thing.

It was the yawning pool! I had done it, I had finished Hao's exercise without dieing, breaking a bone or going mentally insane.

'Why are you so over-joyed Otouto? Who said we were done?'

I saw Hao sitting on the other side of the yawning pool, his hand dipped slightly in the water as if testing to see how cold or warm it was. I moaned and slumped to the floor, glaring at him steadily...I hated this. Hao kept his eyes on the glowing waters and I watched, slightly uninterested at what he was doing. 'Since you fell twice on the stairs, that's two oranges missing from the fridge. Then there's also the spirit, which U told you not to wake. But did, so there's another two. Making four.'

My eyes widened, that was the penalty?! I lost two of my precious oranges because I had slipped and had woken some spirit?! Argh, I couldn't take this. My poor precious little oranges! He only laughed and got up, shrugging his poncho off his shoulders. I watched as it pooled at his feet, noticing hao was now looking at me expectantly. 'oh, and to finish this 'exercise' you must hit me, either punch, kick or tap. Your choice.'

I was totally speechless, how was I supposed to hit Hao? I couldn't even measure up to his speed, I wasn't even close to his power. 'Can I do something else?' I asked, giving him a pleading look.

'Sure. You feel like doing a handstand for three hours without tipping over the jug of water that'll be on your feet?' I groaned and shook my head.

'how bout something else?' I tried again, seeing if I could getting a much more easier thing to do.

'Alright. How bout you do whatever I say for the rest of the night?' Hao smirked in the way that I knew wouldn't be good if I chose that option. But I was hungry and not exactly in the mood to fight Hao...more so, I didn't even know how to fight.

I nodded slowly, taking his hand. Hao gave me a close eyed smile, I just know somethings going to happen.

-----

Yoh walked down the hallway, in his hands, one of the books Hao had given him. He found, instead of being lazy all the time, why not read one of the now many books Hao had given him? He was still lazy, but it was mainly in the morning when he either just woke up or was to tired to get up from his bed.

Hao had given him the day off to do what he wished as long as he stayed in the proximity of the manor. Meaning he could also go outside in the courtyard. But it was raining and he didn't exactly feel like getting wet. He sighed and placed the piece of paper he used as a bookmark on the page he stopped at then closed the book.

Where was Hao? He thought. He hadn't seen his brother all day and this worried him a bit considering by now, hao would've checked up on him at least for the fifth time that afternoon. He frowned and started heading towards his brother's room, knocking silently on the door before entering.

He frowned, he wasn't here. Then he noticed that the patio door was left ajar by a wood block and he raised an eyebrow as he walked towards it. He slid open the door and stepped outside, squinting to see if his brother was out in this rain.

He slumped his shoulders and sighed, Hao was stupid to be out here in such cold rain. He'd get sick.

Yoh placed the book on the floor before stepping down the step and onto the soggy grass. He strolled over to Hao who was busy looking up at the sky, not noticing his twin's presence.

'Nii-Chan?' Yoh asked, taking hold of Hao's sleeve, getting the elders attention. Hao blinked and looked down at him, frowning when Yoh tugged on the sleeve of his kimono.

'What is it Yoh?' Hao asked.

'Please come inside...you're going to get sick.' Hao scoffed at that, his eyes locking with Yoh's.

'You shouldn't care about that, I won't get sick.' Hao told him, caressing Yoh's cheek with the back of his hand.

'But I do care, your my Nii-Chan.' Yoh whimpered, tugging on Hao's sleeve more impatiently this time, pulling him back towards the house. Hao sighed and let Yoh have his way, no use in fighting with Yoh unless you were prepared to go through the whole pout, whine and I-hate-you thing.

Yoh smiled and grabbed a towel from Hao's private bathroom and began drying out the other's long brown hair. Hao slowly untied the sash to his kimono and let the wet material slide off his back and onto the floor. Yoh gulped and hastily looked at the ground when Hao slipped out of his boxers.

'What? Were twins Otouto, we have the same parts. Besides, how do you think you stayed clean when you were asleep for a whole month?' Hao asked, watching in amusement as Yoh's face went totally blank, like he had seen a ghost (which is pretty ironic considering he sees ghost all the time)

'You mean...?' Hao nodded, the smile across his lips widening. 'And you...?' Hao nodded once more.

'So you did...?' Hao murmured a small yes before pulling on a clean pair of scarlet red boxers. 'Oh my god! You pedophile!'

Hao's mouth dropped and his eyes widened considerably, he was certainly not expecting that... he quickly recovered his composer and with a sigh, he rubbed his forehead. 'No...Otouto...don't take it that way. I just...made sure you had baths and changed your clothes. I didn't touch you any other way than for that.' Hao said, placing a dark button-up shirt upon his frame the proceeded with buckling his baggy black pants.

'Oh close that yap, I didn't touch you that way for crying out loud!' Hao said, annoyed. Yoh nodded and walked out of the room, heading back towards his so that he could change. Hao banged his head against the wall, a good intention gone bad, he thought before disappearing in a lick of flames.

OWARI!

kina: chap 1 is done. now onto the rest. though i have so many other tihngs to do, i have to finish spell-checking them all, correct then in other terms, and then i have that stupid math exam this week...anywho, ish tired.

kasu: then go to sleep!

kina: can't...must study!

kasu: oh well...review.

ARIGATO!