Family Affair

Chapter 3 ~ Growing Up Again


“No!” Yoh cried as he sat up straight in a cold sweat. He took shaky breaths while clenching the blanket, then slowly he laid down again. After a moment, he squeezed his eyes closed as tightly as possible, trying to forget the nightmare. After a moment, tears escaped and trailed down until they plastered strands of his hair to his face. Minutes later he opened them feeling something gently rest on his face. He blinked once, then twice, then looked up above him, finding it was Manta’s hand he felt. Yoh looked up at the blonde, who was looking at him fearfully, attempting to hold a protective expression only to fail. Yoh smiled, and then sat up and pulled the blonde carefully into his lap and hugged him.

“It’s okay, Manta,” he said quietly. “I just had a bad dream. I’m fine now.”

Manta looked up worriedly at Yoh, then hugged him while rubbing his face sleepily into Yoh’s chest as the brunette laid himself and Manta down, then after a while the two fell peacefully to sleep.

-

A month had passed since Kibo and Yoh’s discussion and they had returned to Izumo, and to both their surprise, Manta seemed to be improving again. What truly threw them off, though, was when Manta began making changes. He seemed to have grown quite fond of skirts and dresses. At first Kibo had been embarrassed, but she soon grew used to it. Manta had also began trying to make decisions on his own that affected everybody, such as choosing meals.

Not only that, he had begun to express his feelings towards Yoh a little more intimately, trying to comfort the shaman when he had a bad day, or simply using timid physical actions to thank Yoh for his patience.

One morning, Faust was sitting on the porch of the Asakura estate, reading a newspaper. He frowned slightly noticing an article regarding the downfall of the Oyamada Power Company since Mansumi had been sentenced to prison 7 years earlier, then shook his head and skipped it. He blinked, then looked up minutes later when he heard somebody running up. He stared curiously at Yoh, who had run out and now looked at him with a grin. “Yoh-kun, is everything okay?”

“Where’s Kibo?”

“She\'s out with Shizuka, training. What\'s the matter.”

“Faust, I think you should give Manta a checkup today,” he said, still grinning.

“Hmm?” Faust tilted his head curiously. “He just had a checkup on Monday.”

“Yeah, I know. But you really need to do a check up.”

“Why is it so important? Is he sick?”

Yoh shook his head, still grinning. “He let me touch him last night...”

“He’s been allowing you to do that for a while, Yoh-kun” Faust said with a twitchy eyebrow.

“Maybe, but he’s never given me a response before.\"

Faust blinked, then followed Yoh in.

-

Later that day, Shizuka sat with Yoh and Faust. “What’s the big idea dragging me from training?” she asked.

Faust closed his eyes. “Have you been casting spells again?”

“No,” she replied with a cocked eyebrow. “Why?”

Faust rubbed the temple of his head, groaning while trying to think of a polite way of putting it.

“I gave Manta his first boner last night,” Yoh said with a grin.

“What?” the priestess asked with annoyance.

“Well it was just a little one, then he got a little scared so we had to stop making out, but...”

“Look, I don’t want to know about your sex life,” she snapped. “And how can that be possible if Hao... Uh...”

“That’s the thing,” Faust said quietly. “All these years, I’ve been focusing on Manta’s mental state more than his physical. When I did an examination, he was fine. Healthy as a ten year old boy, or relatively speaking.”

Shizuka blinked. “Uh... what do you mean?”

“Well... It’s as if he never hit puberty until recently...” Faust said. “All the damage seems to have been reversed or something.”

Shizuka blinked, thought. “Hm... Well...” She blinked, then yelped while smiling nervously. “I think I know what happened,” she said while rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

“Oh?” Yoh looked at her curiously.

“You said it’s as if he’s just hit puberty?” When Faust nodded, she sighed a bit. “You remember that spell I used to transform Manta until he gave birth? It must have reset his body’s development when it wore off, in which case he went back to square one and has been developing these last years.\"

Yoh grinned. “Really?”

Shizuka nodded, then shot him a glance. “That’s not to say that he is ready to be used like some toy.”

Faust nodded in agreement. “There’s no doubt that... uh... activities are hard on his body.”

Yoh blinked. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! I’m not planning on doing anything like that to Manta!” he said quickly. “I’m not that dumb!” he grinned. “But I think Manta deserves to feel something good for once.” He jumped up quickly.

“Yoh, wait,” Shizuka said quietly. “Keep in mind that you do look an awful lot like Hao... Don’t just go running in like that.”

Yoh blinked. “Actually, I was gonna go into town and get some orange juice and banana bread to celebrate.” He smiled gently. “Don’t worry. I love Manta with all of my heart, and I won’t do anything to hurt him.” He smiled while making a ‘V’ with his middle and index finger, then pulled his shoes on and ran out the door.

Faust sighed while shaking his head some. “Sometimes I wonder if he’ll ever grow up.”

Shizuka giggled. “I’m not very mature, myself.”

“You at least stay on topic,” he replied.

-

Manta stared at the tray that sat in front of him, then looked up at Yoh in confusion.

Yoh smiled. “Manta, do you remember a tingly feeling when we were touching last night?” he asked quietly. After the blonde slowly nodded, he continued on. “That’s a good sign. It means that if... you ever want to play ‘Happy Game’... it won’t hurt. It’ll feel really good.”

Manta looked at Yoh quietly, then looked away, his face red and his blue eyes shaky.

“Manta, it’s okay,” Yoh said as he leaned forward and kissed the blonde’s head gently. “That doesn’t mean you have to play it. Honest.”

Slowly Manta finished the glass of juice that sat in front of him, then pushed the tray aside and looked up at Yoh quietly.

“What is it?” Yoh asked, not recognizing Manta’s expression. “Is something wrong?”

Slowly the blonde shook his head, then curled up under the blanket of his futon and closed his eyes. After a moment, he opened his eyes feeling Yoh lay next to him, then slowly he rolled over and looked at the shaman, who was watching Manta worriedly. Slowly he leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on Yoh’s lips.

“Eh?” Yoh looked curiously at Manta, then smiled a bit. “You like kissing, don’t you?”

Manta looked away with a bit of a blush.

“Now that you’re getting better... Now that you don’t hurt, you like it, right?” Yoh asked again with an encouraging smile. When he received a small nod, he wrapped on arm gently under Manta, then leaned over the blonde and kissed him gently, once in a while running his tongue over the lips that quivered slightly.

Finally Manta parted his lips and allowed the brunette’s tongue to slip in and gently caress his own. Slowly he brought his arms up around Yoh’s neck, returning the kiss timidly, then breathed in sharply when Yoh’s free hand slid under his nightgown and up to his chest to gently tease his nipples.

“Manta,” Yoh said gently after breaking the kiss, “you let me know if you get scared, okay?” He smiled when the blonde nodded slightly, then began to playfully kiss the face that remained childlike. Slowly the shaman let his hand slide down between Manta’s legs and gently squeezed him, then smiled when he felt Manta react a moment later. “Manta, does that feel okay?” he asked gently.

When Manta nodded timidly, Yoh moved his hand into Manta’s underwear and began to rhythmically stroke his love, smiling when he felt Manta harden a little more. He leaned down to claim Manta’s lips again, then froze when he spotted a small sparkle on the side of Manta’s face as he shook his head weakly. “Manta?” he asked quickly while removing his hand from Manta’s underwear, then scooped the blonde into his arms and began to cradle him. “Shh... It’s okay, Manta,” he said gently. “Don’t cry. I’m sorry.”

For a while Yoh gently rocked Manta, then smiled when the blonde calmed down much more quickly than usual. “Manta-chan, are you okay?”

Manta nodded slowly.

“Um... Did you like it?” Yoh asked quietly.

Manta was quietly, then looked up at Yoh. The shaman was surprised to find Manta’s eyes showed a clarity he hadn’t seen in the boy for years.

“It\'s still to scarey, isn\'t it?” Yoh asked.

Slowly Manta nodded, then leaned his head against the shaman’s shoulder. Minutes later, he fell asleep in Yoh’s arms.

Yoh smiled as Manta slept peacefully, then slowly laid down, keeping his beloved cuddled in his arms. “You’re doing so well, Manta-chan,” Yoh thought. “Maybe soon I can make you feel good...” Yoh smiled some as his eyes closed, then soon he fell asleep as well, unaware of Kibo, who had peeked in for a moment with a small smile.