Amusing
A Shaman King Story
Written by Sumendi
"Ren-sama... please, don't do this... like this... oh... why... please forgive me, Lord!"
Tomori dumped some water on Hitosa's head. Hitosa was having another strange dream, and was talking in her sleep.
Tomori brushed her long pink hair out of her face. "You were dreaming about Ren."
Hitosa blushed furiously, shaking her head furiously. "No, I wasn't!"
"Yes you were," Tomori sneered, her purple eyes glinting. Hitosa closed her own eyes, letting her short black hair fall in her face.
"Come on, Tomori," Hitosa sighed. "Why do you chastise me for this?"
"One, it's disgusting," Tomori growled. She placed a slender hand on her hip. "Two, he's a Tao. You know that the Rei's and the Tao's are worst enemies."
"But he's so..." Hitosa cut off. A normal person might have started crying. Not Hitosa. She hadn't cried in three years. "... He's so perfect."
Tomori narrowed her eyes. "You know that his father killed my father – and he killed one of your brothers."
"Ren-sama is different from his father," Hitosa stated, "and Ren didn't kill my brother." Her face was still crimson red.
"Ever since I lost to him in the Shaman Fight, you've been completely enamored with him," Tomori sneered. "You can barely handle the over soul. How do you really expect a first-rate shaman like Tao Ren to be in love with you?"
"I don't care if he doesn't love me," Hitosa mumbled. "I love him."
"You're a Rei. Hitosa Rei. In case you haven't noticed, he's a Tao," Tomori explained irritably. "He'll kill you."
"But I love him," Hitosa sighed. "And I'll see him in Patch Village."
"Patch Village?!" Tomori cried. "But only those in the Shaman Fight can go there!"
Hitosa pulled down the sleeve of her black nightgown to reveal an Oracle Pager. "Dear sister, I've entered the Shaman Tournament and won all of my prelims... which is better than you've managed, I see. I'm going to Patch Village, and I'm going to see Ren-sama, just you wait!"
-
Hitosa wore her black traveling dress and red dangling earrings. In the sunlight, she looked pale yet vibrant. Tomori wore a simple green tee with simple tan capris. Tomori scoffed at Hitosa's manner of dress.
"You look like a vampire," Tomori scowled. Hitosa remained expressionless.
"I don't like to fool my opponents," Hitosa stated flatly. "I am as cold and deep as the darkness itself."
"Yet you're as love struck as Makoto from Sailor Moon," Tomori sniggered. Hitosa glared at Tomori menacingly.
"Anyways, we better get to Patch Village," Hitosa said. "It shouldn't be too hard. We're already in America."
"Very true," Tomori agreed as they left the vicinity of New York City.
Tomori and Hitosa walked for a very long time, occasionally pausing to read a map, eat some food, sleep or drink some water. They were in a rural area near the Midwest – approximately five days later – when they came across the smoldering ruins of a plane.
The rubble was completely charred, and it was impossible to tell exactly what happened to it.
Tomori inspected some of the shrapnel and gasped.
"What is it?" Hitosa asked as she took a look at the decimated engine.
"This plane belonged to the Taos," Tomori muttered. "There's no way that the people inside could have survived."
"There's only one Tao in the Shaman Fight," Hitosa breathed. She began to hiccup – but she didn't cry.
Tomori placed a comforting shoulder around Hitosa, even though Tomori was overjoyed at this revelation.
"Don't worry," Tomori whispered. (Hiccup) "He'll live on in your mind, Hitosa."
"But" (Hiccup) "he..." (Hiccup) Hitosa paused. The only things permeating her uneasy silence were her waning hiccups.
"We have to move" (Hiccup) "on," Hitosa mumbled. Tomori began to walk, but imagining Ren perish in a crash was too much for Hitosa. She bit her lip, and held her breath. The hiccups went away, but the pain was still there. Eventually, Hitosa followed her sister.
-
Tomori was sleeping, and Hitosa was on night duty. Hitosa loved the night. The moon calmed her, the stars awed her, and the persistent darkness invited her into the night.
A rustle broke the silence. Hitosa rose from her perch (a tree stump) and stuck her hand near the earth. Rising from it was a small stone blade. Hitosa clasped her hand around the dagger and walked into the trees.
Hitosa heard another rustle. Quietly and quickly, Hitosa pressed the dagger to her bosom and hid behind one of the trees. The perpetrator was lurking nearby. Small footsteps fell on the ground.
Hitosa risked a peek. The person was definitely male, judging by the stance and build. He was also of medium height, and was armed with a samurai's sword.
He's after Tomori, Hitosa thought desperately. She raised her hand silently.
"Mimori – ground enchantress!" Hitosa whispered urgently. The figure kept walking.
Mimori was a beautiful woman with pale skin, and a brown flowing cloak. Her lips were blood red, and her dress was deep emerald green. Mimori raised her light blue eyes to Hitosa.
"Mimori-chan, I need you to merge with my dagger," Hitosa murmured. Mimori merely nodded, and Hitosa thrust her dagger – and her arm – in Mimori's direction. Hitosa's Oracle Pager tinkled slightly. Unbeknownst to Hitosa, the figure took notice and began to walk in that direction.
Mimori turned into a spirit ball and threw itself into the stone dagger. A dull brown light pulsated from the dagger, and Hitosa thrust herself into complete silence again.
The figure was definitely heading in her direction. Hitosa ran to a different tree and placed the dagger near her leg. In her flight, she lost sight of the figure. However, the figure was perched above Hitosa. In a swift movement, the figure slammed the hilt of the blade into Hitosa's head, knocking her cold.
The figure fell to the ground, landing perfectly on his sandaled feet. He turned to the fainted girl, and shuddered.
"I'm sorry... guess I'm just getting very wary," he mumbled, hoisting Hitosa into his arms.
-
Hitosa woke with a jolt at the stranger's camp. There were five people there. There was the stranger, who had brown hair that fell in pieces on his cheeks, and held the rest of it back with a pair of headphones. There was a boy with spiky blue hair, held back by a tribal headband, and a snowboard by his side; a tall person, who wore his hair in a pompadour and held a bokuto (wooden sword) in his hand; and a green-haired kid who had a comfortable looking cloak and a pendulum dangling from his wrist. The last person had black hair, with a spike protruding from it, a warrior's physique, cat-like eyes, and a piercing gaze. Hitosa almost fainted again. This last person she recognized immediately as Ren Tao.
The stranger that had knocked out Hitosa originally noticed that Hitosa was awake almost instantly.
"Sorry about that," he smiled. Hitosa felt at ease around him, for some reason. "I was nervous."
The green-haired one stood up. He looked at Hitosa with light green eyes, soft and inviting. "You woke up fast. I'm Lyserg Diethel. The guy who knocked you out was Yoh Asakura."
"Hi," Yoh grinned.
"Yoh... and Lyserg..." Hitosa repeated, nodding.
Lyserg continued the mass introduction. "The one with the pompadour is Ryu Umemiya..."
Ryu looked at Hitosa, and began to blush. Before Ryu said anything, Hitosa said, "Don't look at me."
The sound of an argument broke through Lyserg's initiations. The spiky-haired kid and Ren were arguing. Actually, in all fairness, the spiky-haired boy was yelling at Ren, and Ren was calmly replying. Lyserg looked directly at the pair.
"The loud one is Horohoro-san, and the calm, cool one is –"
"Ren Tao," Hitosa finished. Lyserg looked at Hitosa.
"You know him?" Lyserg asked. Hitosa went red as a beet.
"N-no, my s-sister lost to him in the Shaman Fight prelims-!" Hitosa answered quickly. Lyserg flashed Hitosa a sly smile.
"Sure," Lyserg answered under his breath.
Horohoro had, evidently, lost the argument, and instead faced Hitosa.
"Oh, hi! I'm Horohoro –"
"If you had been paying attention, you would have realized that Diethel already introduced us," said a calculating voice. Hitosa's eyes glazed over, because this was the voice of Ren Tao.
Ren turned towards Hitosa. "What brings you here?"
Hitosa managed to flash her Oracle Pager to the group. "Shaman Fight."
Ren, in turned, flashed his Oracle Pager. "Hello."
Yoh beamed. Hitosa had seen the Oracle Pager adorning his naked wrist earlier. "Well, who are you?"
"Oh, me?" Hitosa replied. Ren was looking at her intently. Hitosa felt her face flush, as Lyserg looked at her through the corner of his eye and smiled covertly. "I'm Hitosa Rei... I'm fourteen... my sister is –"
Hitosa cut off. Her sister! How long had Hitosa been out?
Horohoro seemed to notice Hitosa's urgency. "What's wrong?"
Ren glanced towards the trees. A soft rustling was coming from that general area.
"I left my sister alone out there!" Hitosa cried. Hitosa dashed into the trees and ran smack into Ryu. He had disappeared, as it seemed, and had retrieved some wood to kindle a fire.
"Miss?" Ryu said, confused.
Hitosa rubbed her head and looked up at Ryu. "I'm sorry."
"Who's your sister?" Ren asked, suddenly.
Hitosa turned to face Ren. She tried not to let her feelings show.
He's talking to ME! Hitosa thought.
"M-my sister?" Hitosa reiterated. "Oh, she's Tomori Rei. She said that she faced you in the Shaman Fight Preliminaries."
Ren scowled. "I remember her. She had the water spirit. She was skilled, but she squandered her Furiyoku."
Yoh looked at Hitosa. "That's interesting."
Hitosa smiled.
After Lyserg informed Hitosa that she'd only been unconscious for about five minutes, she sat down and the group began to converse.
It was obvious that something was bugging Horohoro, though. Finally he spoke up.
"You aren't with Hao... are you?" Horohoro asked.
Hitosa looked down. "No... I'm not..."
"Why are you looking down?" Ryu asked.
"My brother," Hitosa said quickly. "He left to work with another shaman... he turned up dead..." Hitosa didn't cry, but her frame began to tremble. "My sister said... Tomori said... that Ren-san killed him..."
Ren scoffed. "I don't think so. What was his name?"
Hitosa was too shaken to realize she was talking to Ren. "His name... his name was –"
"Hitosa!" a voice cried. It was Tomori. She immediately pulled Hitosa off of the ground and glared at the group.
"What did you do to her?" Tomori asked.
"They didn't do –"
"Hush," Tomori demanded.
"Well, this is kind of my fault. You see, I accidentally knocked her out, and we kept her here so she could recover," Yoh responded.
"Tomori Rei," Ren muttered. Tomori whirled around to face Ren.
"Ren Tao," Tomori growled. Hitosa stopped her sister from advancing.
"He's not a bad person, Tomori," Hitosa whispered. Tomori still scowled at the expressionless Ren.
"They're my friends," Hitosa mentioned to Tomori. Hitosa pointed out all the people as she said their name. "That's Lyserg Diethel, Ryu Umemiya, Horohoro, Yoh Asakura, ... and Ren Tao."
"Hi," Yoh said.
"Yo," Horohoro smiled.
Ryu said nothing. Tomori captivated him.
"Hello," Lyserg greeted, friendly towards her.
Ren nodded. He was always this cold towards others.
Tomori nodded her eyes. "It's almost two, Hitosa. All right. I'll let you stay here for an hour or so."
"Thank you, Tomori," Hitosa bowed, and Tomori disappeared in the trees.
Ren shook his head and looked directly at Hitosa. It was the first time he had done so – and Hitosa felt her face become warm.
You can't let it show! Hitosa thought.
"So... who was your brother?" Ren persisted.
"I don't think that Ren-sama killed your brother," Yoh smirked. "If he had, I would have had my hand in killing him too!" Yoh began to laugh, and Ren shook his head.
"My brother... you might know him... his name was Ashil," Hitosa said solemnly.
Horohoro nearly gagged. "Ashil? As in psycho nutcase Ashil?"
"Ashil is not a psycho," Hitosa countered, her voice quivering. "He was... is... a good man. Misled, maybe, but when he left us, he was... he is... my favorite sibling."
"What about Tomori-san?" Ryu asked.
"Tomori thinks I'm a psycho nutcase," Hitosa responded.
"Why?" Yoh asked. Lyserg looked at Hitosa, then at Ren. Hitosa caught Lyserg's eye and nodded slightly.
"Just... things," Hitosa muttered. Ren looked to the side of him, and then at Hitosa.
"You're related to Ashil?" Ren asked, still a bit incredulous. "I have to admit, he was an extreme psychopath when we met him."
"Who killed him?" Hitosa asked.
"What?" Yoh asked stupidly.
"Who killed Ashil?" Hitosa repeated.
Lyserg looked up. "The X-Laws... they killed him... sorry..."
Hitosa narrowed her eyes in frustration. "X-Laws?"
"Yeah..." Yoh added. "They're kind of freaky."
"They can't be all bad," Lyserg contradicted. "They do want to kill Hao. That's legit."
"Death is just a bit depressing..." Horohoro noted. "What do you think, Hitosa-san?"
"They killed my brother," Hitosa said through gritted teeth. "THEY killed him..."
Hitosa stood up and frantically tried to run into the distance. Ren, of all people, yanked on her dress collar, causing her to stop.
"What are you doing?" Ren inquired curiously.
"I have to find those X-Laws and get them," Hitosa muttered.
Ren's hanging on your dress collar. YOUR dress collar! Hitosa thought excitedly.
"They're long gone, Hitosa-san," Yoh stated. "We don't know where they are now."
Hitosa felt her face redden. She had finally figured out that Ren was holding her dress. Ren let go. Hitosa turned towards them.
"I'm sorry," Hitosa apologized.
-
Lyserg, Hitosa, and Ren were the only ones awake after a half-hour, save Horohoro, who had run into the trees for bladder-induced reasons.
Lyserg smiled wickedly at Hitosa. "You know, you could tell him if you wanted to," he whispered to her.
Hitosa flushed. "No."
Ren was too busy staring at the stars to notice this exchange.
"Come on. I already know. It's not like Yoh is gonna wake up."
"But..."
"Don't worry."
Hitosa looked at Ren. Ren readjusted his gaze to look at the crackling fire before him.
Lyserg prodded Hitosa in the elbow. "What have you got to lose?"
Ren looked at Hitosa. Hitosa nearly died of fright.
"Hitosa-san," Ren said suddenly. Hitosa's brain seemed to have shut down.
"Yes, Ren-san?" Hitosa answered, almost afraid of what he would say.
"You're... you're very..." Ren blushed slightly. "You're very beautiful..."
Hitosa was beet red. "Erm... thank you, Ren-san..."
He just called you beautiful! Lyserg was right – what have you got to lose?!
"I don't know what... what I should do... but I have an idea..." Ren murmured. Lyserg had a superior smirk on his face.
Hitosa watched Ren stand up and sit down next to her. She was beyond red – she was near crimson. Ren was growing red, and suddenly, he kissed her – on the lips – lightly. Hitosa felt a wave of happiness spread over her.
Ren pulled away. "I'm sorry about... Ashil..."
"It's all right... but I still miss him..." Hitosa sighed.
Look at Lyserg. He's got a huge smile on his face. What is that idiot thinking? Hitosa wondered as Ren kissed her again.
"I knew you two would look good together," Lyserg breathed softly, so that no one heard it. The only sound was Hitosa's slight giggles.
-
Tomori and Hitosa walked again the next day.
"Are you sure you can go on? You got hardly any sleep last night," Tomori noted.
Hitosa didn't answer. She didn't care. Ren's sweet kiss still lingered on her lips, smooth as silk, and soft as a pillow.
"Are you thinking about Ren again?" Tomori scoffed. "He doesn't like you. He barely knows you."
I wouldn't be so sure, Hitosa thought. Ren-sama liked me yesterday...
The End
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Shaman King, but I did create Hitosa and Tomori. (Shout out to Mr. Hiroyuki Takei! You rock!)