Summary: Mayumi Asakura was always very close with her baby brother, Yoh, but he hasn't seen her in three years. When they both pass through the first round of the Shaman Tournament and find each other again, will Yumi travel with her brother and his new friends to Dobi Village? And what will Zeke do when he finds out that he has an older sister?

Disclaimer: If I owned Shaman King do you really think that I would be writing this story?

Key:

"Normal Speech"

"Spirit Speech"

'Thoughts'

Reflections/Flashbacks/Lyrics

Enjoy!

It was a dark night when a young girl snuck out of her parent's home to head for the forest. "I'll get some of mommy's favorite flowers for her because I'm a big helper!" the young brunette giggled as she stooped down to grab a handful of white flowers at the edge of the forest. "Miss Mayumi, are you sure that you should be out here in the middle of the night picking flowers?" a blue-gray griffin appeared next to the girl as she stood back up to head for the house. "Of course 'Ame! Mommy said that she's going to give me a baby brother so I need to give her some flowers! And I told you to call me Yumi, 'Ame!" the girl called Mayumi pouted before running back to the house. The griffin ghost sighed before following his chosen Shaman back to her family's home, just happy that the girl was going back inside where it was safe.

Yumi was walking through her house to the room her daddy had told her to come to if she wanted to see her baby brother being born when she heard her mother's cries of pain. "Mommy!" the five-year-old gasped as she ran the rest of the way to the room with 'Ame right behind her in spirit form. The sight that fell before the five-year-old's chocolate brown eyes was one that Yumi would never forget. There was a spirit holding the form of a baby boy floating above her father's burning form. "DADDY!" Mayumi screamed as she ran to her father. "MAYUMI NO!" 'Ame cried as he threw himself between the fireball and the girl before it could hit her. "I see that I have an older sister, how fortunate. Be sure to take care of my other half now, I'll be needing him someday. Farewell, for now." Yumi would never forget that voice as the fire spirit and the baby disappeared from view.

"'Ame? 'Ame!" Mayumi whimpered as she crawled over to the ghost's prone form. "I'm alright Miss Mayumi. Are you alright?" the griffin reassured as he got to his 'feet'. "I'm fine, and I told you to just call me Yumi. Daddy?" the little girl crawled over to her father after 'Ame's reassurance. "I'll live sweetheart. Keiko, are you alright?" Mikihisa asked his wife, who had just completed the birthing of her second son. "I'm alright Mikihisa, just exhausted and a little upset." Keiko assured her husband as she sat back up to look at her son. "Mommy, Daddy, what just happened?" Yumi asked, her voice trembling slightly. "I think that explanation can wait for another day when you will understand, Mayumi. For now we need to worry about your little brother." Yohmei told his granddaughter with a pat on her head before turning back to his daughter.

"What will you name him?" Kino asked the parents of the newly born boy who had promptly fallen asleep in his mother's arms. "We'll call him, Yoh, Yoh Asakura."

It has been one year since Yoh was born, marking his first birthday, the Asakura family is having a party for him. Mayumi has also entered her sixth year in the world and is actively exploring the forest surrounding the Asakura home with her guardian ghost, Ryoushiame, though she still calls him 'Ame. Today, Yumi has returned from yet another journey in the forest just in time to see her family gathering around her baby brother Yoh for his birthday party. "'Ame, why do Mommy and Daddy give Yoh parties like that when I don't get them anymore?" the girl asked quietly as she stood at the edge of the forest. "Yumi, your parents are doing the same for your brother as they did for you when you were that little. Besides, Yoh needs more attention from your parents than you do right now because he can't take care of himself like you can." Ryoushiame answered as simply as he could. "What do you mean he can't take care of himself? And why does that mean he gets more attention than me!" Yumi asked, anger was hinting at the six-year-old's voice. "Well, he can't exactly eat or walk without help from either of your parents, and since you can, your parents need you to do what you can on your own. By doing that you are helping them to take care of Yoh. Maybe you could give him a gift after everyone leaves today as well, I think that would make your parents very proud." the griffin spirit explained calmly.

Yumi looked back at the party where everyone crowded around her baby brother, who was beginning to cry. At the sound of her little brother crying, Mayumi decided that she was going to be a big helper and ran over to the house and pushed through her family to reach Yoh. "Is everything alright Keiko?" Mikihisa asked his wife, who was currently holding Yoh. "I don't know! He won't stop crying!" Yumi's mother exclaimed as she tried to calm her son. Keiko finally gave up and placed her crying son on a sleeping mat on the porch. With her brother now within reach, Mayumi walked over to the mat and sat next to her crying brother. After a moment, Yumi put one of the flowers that she had picked into his small hand. Almost immediately, the boy stopped crying and opened his chocolate brown eyes to look at the white flower in his hand then at his older sister sitting next to him, and promptly cooed. "He likes the same flowers that Mommy does! These are for you, baby brother!" Yumi exclaimed as she held up the rest of the flowers for her brother to see. The boy made excited movements as he reached out to not the flowers, but his sister herself. "I think he wants to give you a hug Yumi." Ryoushiame's sudden appearance next to the six-year-old startled Yoh once more, though he only stared at the griffin ghost and cooed again.

"Go on and give your brother a hug Yumi, I think that he likes you!" Keiko encouraged her daughter with a proud smile as she came to sit on the mat next to her children. Yumi smiled big and picked her brother up to place him on her lap. Yoh gave many happy sounds as his elder sister held him on her lap. "See, he really likes you Mayumi. Would you like to help us take care of him since you're such a big girl now?" Mikihisa asked his daughter as he, too, sat upon the mat with his family. "Yay! I get to help take care of Baby Brother Yoh!" Yumi was so happy with being able to help her parents take care of her baby brother!

After that day Mayumi and Yoh were nearly inseparable, it even got to the point where at night Yoh could most often be found sleeping within the barrier of his big sister's arms. The Asakura family, at first, was awed by the sibling's closeness, though as time went on and they grew older, those outside of the sibling's intermediate family grew disgusted with the behavior. When Mikihisa and Keiko spoke to the pair about it when Mayumi was ten and Yoh five, Yumi said that the rest of the family should get their heads out of the gutter; they were close siblings and nothing more. It was also around this time that Yohmei began training Mayumi to become a Shaman, though she already had a guardian ghost, her grandfather insisted that Yumi be trained properly. The girl quickly advanced through her grandfather's training and by the time she turned fifteen there was nothing more that Yohmei could teach his grandchild. It was around this time that the memories of the night of Yoh's birth began to arise many questions and sleepless nights for Mayumi. It got to the point where she took her parents and grandparents into a private conversation about it when Yoh was off training.

"Is there something bothering you, Yumi? You don't look like you've been getting enough sleep of late." Keiko asked her daughter once the five of them were seated around the dining table. "There is something bothering me, something considering the night Yoh was born." the fifteen-year-old girl did not need to say anything more after that, the adults knew then that she had retained her memories. "Do you really wish to know, Mayumi? Once you begin to hear the story there will be no turning back, but I trust that you know that." Yohmei said softly to his granddaughter, who only held his gaze as an answer. "Then we must take this conversation elsewhere, to a place where this will all make sense to you. Come and follow me." Kino said as she stood, signaling the other four to follow her. "I will come as well, if this is as important as you say it is then I believe that Yumi should not be the only one of us to hear it." Ryoushiame commented as he came into view. "Alright Ryoushiame, but neither of you must breath a word of this to Yoh, it will only make things more difficult on the boy." Mikihisa said sternly.

"You have my word, father." "And mine as well Master Mikihisa."

"Very well, we shall proceed." Kino said as the group continued to walk away from the house and down into a secret room that Yumi had never seen before. "What is this place?" the girl breathed in awe as she took in her surroundings. "This is the place where Zeke Asakura trained over one thousand years ago. I'm sure that you know of our great ancestor by now Mayumi." Yohmei said, earning a nod from the fifteen-year-old and her Guardian Ghost. "Good, you may also know that he mastered the five points of the unity star." Kino commented. "And what does this guy have to do with what happened ten years ago?" Mayumi asked calmly, her arms crossed across her chest while she awaited an answer.

"We were getting to that. Zeke reincarnated himself five hundred years ago, interrupted the Shaman King Tournament and made the Spirit of Fire his Guardian Ghost; he was however defeated by a Shaman of Asakura descent. Fast forward to the night that Yoh was born; Zeke reincarnated himself as his twin and the Spirit of Fire came and retrieved him so that we could not destroy him. That is what happened ten years ago, and why you and Yoh were kept in the dark about the truth; it would have put too much pressure on the both of you." Yohmei explained with a gaze that never left his granddaughter's. "I see, so Zeke is basically a 1,000 year old spirit bent on what exactly?" Yumi asked, though everyone could hear her voice waver. "Zeke is able to hear the thoughts of others; during his first life it drove him to insanity. His goal is to rid the world of humans to create a Shaman Only World because he believes that the humans are destroying the Earth and he needs the King of Spirits to do it. This is why he has come back now, with the Shaman King Tournament only three years away Zeke has most likely been gathering followers ever since he began to talk." Kino explained gravely, Mayumi closed her eyes in an attempt to make sense of everything.

"That is horrible! I will not allow this lunatic to carry forth his plan!" Ryoushiame snarled angrily and began his form of pacing. "Don't worry about it 'Ame. Zeke will never fulfill his twisted plan; I'll make sure of it." Yumi stated with her emotionless voice, eyes opening in a cold gaze after she spoke. "I was hoping that you would say that Mayumi. The entire world is counting on you and Yoh to bring this evil down. It is the duty of the Asakura Family to defeat its own." Mikihisa stated as he placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "If that's the case, Ryoushiame and I will need to do some hardcore training ourselves. We'll leave the day after tomorrow to train alone; I don't want Yoh to start asking questions as to why I'm training so hard. And it would be a good thing for him to learn not to lean on me as much as he has been lately." Yumi stated before looking at the faces of her family.

"Of course, but you know that Yoh will be very upset that you are leaving." Keiko said, though there was sadness in her voice as well. "I know, that is why I'm waiting until the day after tomorrow. And I'll leave after Yoh is asleep." Mayumi's eyes saddened at the thought of leaving, but she knew that it had to be done. "Very well. I believe that it is time to return to the house, it is getting late." Yohmei broke the silence with his words before the group of Asakuras walked back to the main household. "Miss Yumi, are you sure that you want to leave home so soon?" Ryoushiame asked his Shaman once they were alone in her room. "Yes, my mind is sure, and my heart and soul know what must be done, but that does not mean that I do not feel the pain and sadness that comes with abandoning my baby brother. I don't want to leave him 'Ame, but I know that he's going to have to fight alone sometime, and he needs to live without me around to sing him to sleep every day of his life. Though I do enjoy singing Yoh to sleep and will miss him dearly for the next three years." Yumi whispered sadly with her back to her Guardian Ghost. "Three years Yumi? You're not going to see your brother for three whole years?" the griffin-ghost was startled to say the least at her statement.

"Yes, three years Ryoushiame. Though I am going to be keeping an eye on Yoh while he fights through the first part of the Tournament, I will let him decide his own fate and fight his own battles." Mayumi murmured in a tone that Ryoushiame knew as misery and left her to herself. 'Yoh, I'm sorry that I have to leave you so soon, but where I'm going you won't be able to follow, at least not yet. I'm going to pass through the Tunnel of Tartarus a few times, then train deep in the forests and mountains around the country, after that I'm not too sure what I'll do, but I'm sure that something will come to me.' Mayumi thought to herself as she packed a small knapsack. Within the pack the brown-haired girl put some money, clothes, some girlish items, and a picture of her family. 'No matter how far I travel, I will always have a home here; mother, father, grandfather and grandmother certainly made that very clear.' Yumi thought to herself as she sealed the pack and placed it under her bed.

The next two days went by without so much as a hitch, and soon it was time for Yumi to put Yoh to bed for the last time for the next three years. "Hey Yumi, can you sing two songs for me tonight? Please!" the ten-year-old Yoh pleaded with his sister as she tucked him into bed. "Of course Yoh, which songs would you like to hear tonight?" Mayumi answered with a smile, though her baby brother missed the sadness in her eyes. "Can you sing I'm With You and Colors of the Wind? Pretty please!" the puppy face that Yoh put on would always melt Yumi's heart. "Of course I can." the girl smiled as she ruffled her baby brother's hair and began to sing.

I'm standin' on the bridge,
I'm waitin' in the dark,
I thought that you'd be here by now,
There's nothing but the rain,
No footsteps on the ground,
I'm listening but there's no sound,

Isn't anyone tryin' to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home?
It's a damn cold night,
I'm tryin' to figure out this life,
Won't you take me by the hand?
Take me somewhere new,
I don't know who you are,
But I'm, I'm with you,
I'm with you,
Hmm hmm hmm,

I'm looking for a place,
I'm searching for a face,
Is anybody here I know?
'Cause nothing's going right,
And everything's a mess,
And no one likes to be alone,

Isn't anyone tryin' to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home?
It's a damn cold night,
I try to figure out this life,
Won't you take me by the hand?
Take me somewhere new,
I don't know who you are,
But I'm, I'm with you,
I'm with you,
Yea yea,

Oh, why is everything so confusing?
Maybe I'm just out of my mind,
Yea eee yeah, yea eee yeah,
Yea yee yea, yea eee yeah,yeah,

It's a damn cold night,
Tryin' to figure out this life,
Won't you take me by the hand?
Take me somewhere new,
I don't know who you are,
But I'm, I'm with you, yea,
I'm with you, yea,

Take me by the hand,
Take me somewhere new,
I don't know who you are,
But I'm, I'm with you, yea,
I'm with you, yea,

Take me by the hand,
Take me somewhere new,
I don't know who you are,
But I'm, I'm with you, oh,
I'm with you,
I'm with you.

"Yay! Big Sis sings awesome!" Yoh said tiredly, Yumi could see his eyes beginning to droop already. "Why thank you Yoh, do you think that you can stay awake for the next one?" the girl teased, earning a lopsided smile from her little brother. "More please!" the boy asked, making Yumi laugh before closing her eyes and beginning once more.

You think I'm an ignorant savage,
And you've been so many places,
I guess it must be so,
But still I cannot see,
If the savage one is me,
How can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know ...

You think you own whatever land you land on,
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim,
But I know every rock and tree and creature,
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name,

You think the only people who are people,
Are the people who look and think like you,
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger,
You'll learn things you never knew you never knew,

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon,
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest,
Come taste the sunsweet berries of the Earth,
Come roll in all the riches all around you,
And for once, never wonder what they're worth,

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers,
The heron and the otter are my friends,
And we are all connected to each other,
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends,

How high will the sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you'll never know,
And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon,

For whether we are white or copper skinned,
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains,
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind,

You can own the Earth and still,
All you'll own is Earth until,
You can paint with all the colors of the wind.

The girl had opened her eyes half-way through the song to see her brother fast asleep, but she finished the song anyway. "Good night Yoh; and good-bye. Grow stronger my little brother, and may we one day meet again to travel together to the second round of the Shaman Tournament in three years time. I love you, Yoh." Mayumi whispered sadly, kissing the center of her brother's forehead lightly before standing and walking out of his room.

After grabbing her knapsack, Mayumi made her way out of the main house of the Asakura family to find her parents and grandparents waiting for her. "So you truly are leaving us, Mayumi." Keiko whispered, the tears in her eyes were clear as daylight and it hurt the girl's heart. "Yes, if what you all told me is true, then Yoh and I need to be very prepared for the Shaman Tournament. If I stayed here, Yoh would never learn to trust in himself, he would just lean on me like a crutch and that would not be good for either of us. I know that none of you like it, I don't either, but I need to do this." Mayumi defended, her voice cracking and Ryoushiame appearing at her side. "I will watch over her, of that you have my word." the griffin-ghost told the Asakuras. "I know you will, Ryoushiame. You have always watched my daughter and kept her safe. But now it is time that she was given a weapon to defend herself with." Mikihisa stepped forward and held a bo staff in his hands for his eldest child to take.

Mayumi grasped the five-foot-long staff and looked it over in awe. The durable, reddish-brown wood fit perfectly in her hands, etches of different plants and animals covered its entirety, and a metal spike was fitted perfectly onto one of the tips. "Thank you, father, it is a beautiful weapon and I will take good care of it." Yumi finally took her eyes off of the weapon to look at her father in thanks. "You're very welcome, Mayumi. I only hope that it will keep you safe in your times of need." Mikihisa said before taking his daughter into a hug. Keiko came over to give her daughter a hug once her husband had let her go. "Be safe my daughter. You will always have a home here." the mother's voice broke when she spoke. "I will mom, I'll be home again, don't you worry about that." the girl replied after the hug was broken. Her grandparents didn't have much to say, only that they loved her and that they would see her again in around three years. After the goodbyes, Mayumi and Ryoushiame began walking away from the Asakura Main House and waving to their family.

And so began my journey, not to become Shaman Queen, but to make sure that my little brother, Yoh Asakura, becomes the Shaman King. Zeke had better hope that he is stronger than I will be at the Tournament, otherwise I won't hesitate to destroy him. I will not allow for a Shaman Only World to exist, and I will stand beside my baby brother Yoh until the end. Even if it kills me.

Yes it's a little long for a prologue, but it didn't feel right to make it shorter so I left it long. Any and all reviews are welcome, just let me know what you all think of my story! So hit that magic button and review people, REVIEW!

~Nightly Rain

P.S. If anyone is interested in beta-ing this story...send me a pm and we'll talk!~ ^-^

List of Songs::
I'm With You - Avril Lavigne
Colors of the Wind - Pocahontas