Title: A Wolf In Shaman's Clothing
Summary: Kiru is wolf demon with a soft spot for humans and spirits. During the preliminary rounds, she meets up with Yoh and his friends in Tokyo and decides to travel with them on their journey. However, could there be more to this demon and her motives than meets the eye?
A/N: So I told myself I wouldn't post this until I finished at least one of my other fics. I was dead set against posting it! But I couldn't resist. There are so many random creatures in this series that I can put demons in here if I want to damn it! Anyways, I'm so obsessed with this series it's about bloody time I write a fic for it. This has been floating around in my head for a while and I was finally able to write it down. Considering how many stories I have on the go, I don't imagine that the update schedule will be very regular for this. But I do intend to complete it!
Chapter One
Overhead, the sun hung heavy in the sky over Tokyo as its heat radiated off the streets and sidewalks below, both crawling with vehicles, bicycles, and people. It was right in the middle of the mid-day rush so outside was a sea of people that you had to fight to make your way through. A soft, light breeze whispered through the air that was lost on the crowd but gently rustled the leaves of the trees in the park. At this time of day people walked the paths of the park though they weren't as plentiful as on the streets. A young girl moved among the people in the parks, idly kicking rocks along. For now she was just killing time, letting her mind wander, and wondering what to do next. She had arrived in Tokyo just this morning and had immediately set out to find a hotel or motel she could stay at. However, every one she tried that would fit her budget was already full to capacity. "Think, Kiru," she mumbled to herself, drawing an odd glance as she passed a young couple walking in the opposite direction. "Where haven't you tried yet?"
With a sigh she looked up to the sky, squinting her eyes against the blinding rays of the sun. Staring up at the sky she couldn't help but remember the spectacle she had seen a few nights past. The darkness of the evening sky had suddenly been torn apart as a brilliant star soared across the sky, leaving a blinding trail of light in its wake. She had been sitting in a tree along with her friends when the star had passed and she had been mesmerized, unable to tear her eyes away. As soon as she saw it, she knew what it was; it was the star Ragoh, the star that signalled the beginning of the Shaman Tournament. Kiru wasn't a shaman herself but she, like her mother, had the ability to see and communicate with spirits and ghosts. Her friends, two small light sprites, danced on the branch beside her in anticipation for the fights to come. With the Shaman Tournament came a new Shaman King, the one who would lead them into a new era.
Kiru was ripped violently from her thoughts as she walked right into a tree. She fell backwards on her butt with a yelp of surprise and pain. She managed to avoid falling on her tail, but it still smarted. Being a wolf demon, her nose was very sensitive. She whimpered and rubbed at her nose, trying to make the pain go away.
Behind her and to the the right a ways, she heard what sounded like someone laughing at her, but surely no one would have the audacity for such a thing. "Hey, don't be mean Yoh," said another voice, a boy around her age by the sounds of it. "It isn't nice to laugh at people." Kiru's ear twitched in annoyance; he was laughing at her after all.
A boy, she assumed the second one who hadn't laughed, walked up beside her. "Are you alright, miss?" he asked politely. Kiru imagined he would have offered her a hand up, but he was far too short for that. She was at his eye level while sitting down. The other boy, still trying not to laugh, walked up behind his short blond friend, and he did offer her a hand up. Or at least he had been, until he got a good look at her. Her ears and tail could only be seen by someone with sixth sense, and these two seemed to poses just that. "Whoa!" The shorter one jumped back a little when he finally noticed. "She has ears and a tail!"
Kiru sighed a little, still sitting on the ground. "Really?" she asked sarcastically. "I hadn't noticed."
After a short pause, the taller boy offered his hand again, this time with a large grin. "I don't imagine it's very comfortable down there."
Returning his smile, Kiru grabbed his hand and he helped her up. "No, not very comfortable at all. Thanks." Looking at the two boys she noticed a samurai spirit floating just behind the taller brunette boy. With a start she realized that he was a shaman and the samurai must be his main spirit. The shorter boy didn't appear to be a shaman though, but if he was hanging out with one and if he had noticed her wolf demon features, he must have a little sixth sense.
"I've never met a demon before," the taller boy said, still grinning like a fool. "My name's Yoh Asakura."
The shorter boy, follow his friends lead, decided to introduce himself as well. "My name is Manta Oyamada. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine," Kiru answered with a wave of her hand. "Just need to pay attention to where I'm going is all." She glanced up at the samurai spirit again, but she didn't say anything, even though she knew his name with a single glance. If they didn't want her to know yet, she wouldn't push. Changing the subject of her thoughts, she turned to Yoh. "If you've never met a demon before, how do you know I am one?" she asked.
Yoh paused to think about that for a moment before answering. "Well, the ears and tail were a bit of a give away, and I couldn't think of anything else you might be."
With a shrug, Kiru replied "I'll accept that." She glanced at the samurai a third time and, even though she had just told herself a moment before she wouldn't push, she asked about him. "So, you guys gonna introduce me to your samurai friend?"
Stunned looks crossed the boys faces when she mentioned the ghost, but Yoh was the first to recover. "You can see him?" he asked, excitement colouring his voice. "His name's Amidamaru. He's my main spirit. Are you a shaman too?"
"Nah," she answered with a shrug. "I can just see and communicate with spirits. Actually, I can tell their name and true nature at a glance, but I figured it would be more polite to ask. I'm Kiru Izuhara by the way. I arrived in Tokyo this morning."
"Where are you travelling from Kiru?" Manta asked.
"Well I've just arrived from France but I live just outside of Fukuoka in Kyushu." Growing tired of standing, Kiru moved off to the nearby bench. Sitting down she threw her arms over the back of the bench and leaned her head back, staring at the sky again.
Manta and Yoh, deciding they weren't done talking to her yet, followed her to the bench. "Where are you staying," Yoh asked this time, grilling her with more questions.
"No where yet," she replied, closing her eyes. "All the places that I can afford are completely full."
Both boys were silent for a moment before Yoh piped up. "Hey, why don't you stay at my place!"
"Excuse me?" Kiru opened her eyes and turned to Yoh, confused by his suggestion.
Yoh grinned at her obvious confusion. "My house was once an inn, Funbari Inn, so I have way more room than I need."
"You know, Anna won't be too happy about you just inviting someone over." Mantas hands fidgeted when he mentioned the other girl. "Plus she's a... you know..."
Yoh just shrugged off Manta's concern. "She doesn't like other shamans. She has nothing against demons though."
"Who's Anna?" Kiru asked innocently. She noticed the shorter boys discomfort when he mentioned Anna so she was very curious to find out who she was.
"My fiance," Yoh replied with a shrug. "She can be a bit demanding but she's a nice person at heart." Kiru glanced over at Manta and she could nearly see the disbelief hanging around him. It was almost enough to make her laugh.
"Uh huh. Well I guess if she doesn't mind it would be nice to have some place to stay." With a sigh she stood up and smiled. "Lead the way boys."
For most of the walk to Funbari Inn, the three of them made idle chit-chat, not really talking about anything of consequence. About halfway there, by Yoh's count, Manta interrupted with another question. "Hey Kiru, you said earlier that you can see a spirits name and true nature at a glance." He made it a statement but Kiru could hear the question in there.
"Yep," she nodded. "I can see the name the spirit carried in life. Well, not see exactly," she corrected herself. "It's more like I just know. I can also see who they were in life, no matter how twisted their spirit form may have become. It can actually be quite useful."
"Where did you get an ability like that?" Yoh asked. It occurred to Kiru that if the ability proved useful to her, it would be even more useful to a shaman.
"It's something I inherited from my mother." She left it at that but when Yoh and Manta didn't start talking again she realized they were waiting for more. "Sorry boys," she said, smirking at them. "But that's all for now. I might tell you more later." Yoh laughed but the three continued on with small talk until they reached the inn.
When they stepped through the gate though, two bricks came flying through the door, striking both Yoh and Manta in the face. Kiru, finding this very funny, burst out laughing. "Serves you right for laughing at me," she snickered at Yoh.
"And what is a demon doing here?" a cold female voice asked from the entrance of the inn. Kiru turned to the voice and was faced with a blonde girl in a black dress. She realized that no one's hair was even remotely similar to her own long silver-blue hair. Even her crimson eyes, reminiscent of her father, were a sharp contrast to everyone else. Not that many people had red eyes.
"My name is Kiru Izuhara," she replied politely. "I just arrived in Tokyo this morning and, since all the hotels are full, Yoh offered me a place to stay here."
"Did he now," she said slowly, turning her icy gaze towards Yoh who was still trying to stand up.
Before she could say anything else Kiru pulled out her wallet. "Do you really think I'd expect to stay here for free? I'll pay, of course."
Anna's gaze whipped quickly back to Kiru as she began sizing her up. After a brief pause she turned around and went back inside the house. "Come in and let us discuss a price." Kiru smiled and followed Anna inside happily. It didn't take them long to hammer out a price and by the time everything was settled Manta and Yoh had dinner finished. As they ate, the questioning of Kiru continued.
"So Kiru, what brings you to Tokyo anyways?" Yoh asked between mouthfuls of food.
"Why the Shaman Tournament of course," she replied with a smile before returning to her own food.
Anna, who had been watching TV turned to Kiru slowly. "What was that?" Manta had frozen and was staring in horror at Anna while Yoh just continued to eat.
"I thought Yoh said you weren't a shaman," Anna said icily.
Kiru leaned forwards, resting her elbows on the table and her head on the back of her hands, deciding whether or not to bait Anna some more. Unfortunately, since she was relying on these people for a place to stay, she couldn't have too much fun at their expense. "I did say that didn't I," she said finally. Kiru leaned back and shrugged her shoulders. "As I said, I'm not a shaman. I'm just here to watch the fights. Besides, my friends Janryu and Canarn really wanted to come."
Satisfied with Kiru's answer, Anna turned back to her television show. "Who are Janryu and Canarn?" Manta asked, calm now that Anna had calmed down as well.
"My friends," she replied with a smile. "Janryu," she said, gesturing to her right shoulder, "and Canarn," gesturing to her left shoulder. Two light sprites appeared on her shoulders, waving and chiming their hellos in sync.
The two sprites somewhat resembled cats, except they had two tails and wings. Janryu's fur was white while his wings were a soft cream colour, where Canarn's fur and feathers were varying shades of brown.
"Aww, they're so cute!" Yoh was visibly restraining himself from reaching forwards to touch them so the two sprites zipped off Kiru's shoulders and whirled around Yoh's head, giggling.
Kiru stood up, stretched and yawned loudly. "Well, I'm off to bed. I usually sleep in late so don't panic if I'm not up in the morning." She yawned again and walked out of the dinning room and up the stairs to the room she had been shown earlier.
"G'night, Kiru!" Yoh called up after her.
When she was finally in her room behind closed doors, she stripped down to her underwear and flopped onto the bed. She stretched out again, this time scratching behind her ear with her claws. Rolling on to her side she pulled up the blankets and curled up. It would be nice to sleep in a proper bed tonight.
VwwwV
In the dead of night, long after the others in the household had turned in for the night, Yoh sat in the living room with Amidamaru. Something had been troubling the samurai spirit ever since they met Kiru that afternoon.
"What's bothering you?" Yoh asked seriously. He wasn't serious often, but he was capable of being so when needed.
Amidamaru remained silent for a moment. "I don't know," he answered truthfully. "Ever since this afternoon, when we met Kiru, I have been feeling... uneasy."
"Why?" Yoh questioned, placing his hands on the floor behind him and leaning back. "You don't trust her?"
The samurai didn't answer Yoh's question directly. "It is just that, she seems familiar somehow."
"You've met her before?" Yoh was leaning forwards now, surprised.
"I did not say that," the ghost sighed in exasperation. "I just feel like I know her or someone related to her." He paused again. "And I am not sure if I trust her." Amidamaru shook his head before Yoh could say anything. "It is just a feeling."
Yoh didn't say anything for a moment, staring out the window at the stars only lightly veiled by clouds. After a moment he smiled and turned back to Amidamaru. "I don't think she's a bad person. She can see ghosts after all and my grandfather always said you have to be a good person to see ghosts." His goofy, laid-back grin was in place again. "At least that's what I believe."
Amidamaru didn't say anything to this for a moment. "Just don't let your guard down."