A/N: Well, here it be, a collaboration of mental drool dedicated to the cast of Shaman King, and just generally the first steps toward them becoming the mildly insane lot they are today. Meaning I'm focusing on meetings and departures that aren't really explained in depth in the manga or anime. Anyhoo, on with the story. Holy Crap! Here it comes!
This Disclaimer is Cool: If I owned Shaman King, I would be cool. But I don't, so I'm not. Le sigh.
Beginnings
Of Shikigami and Fiancées
"Muh." Was the only sound the four year old could possibly vocalize as he flopped weakly onto the dry, scratchy grass. His over-sized orange headphones dug uncomfortably into the backs of his ears, but he really didn't have the energy to care, let alone actually do something to remedy the situation.
"Don't tell me you're exhausted already boy! We've just barely begun! Get up!"
"Ugh… Noooo…" moaned the small shaman-in-training with a weak wave of his hand, as if he could simply swat away the old mans words as he rolled over lazily to show his grandfather his back. Not that Yoh had actually heard what the other shaman was saying, all he could pick out was a kind of irritating buzz lost beneath the sound of his wheezing. Well, after training with the old fart for the entirety of his life (all whopping four years of it), it had reached the point where he didn't need to hear the mans words to know what he was saying…
"One who gives up too easily can never get anything done. Blah blah blah. Spirits this, spirits that, blah blah. Don't put that in your mouth, it's disgusting. Blah blah blah keep training. Blah de blah blah blahbbity blah blah blah…"
Yohmei stared down at his grandsons back with a detached feeling of disbelief as the tiny boy mumbled away to himself. Someday he would really have to teach the boy to stop vocalizing his inner dialogue… Oh well, at least this way he always knew what his grandson was thinking… It was times like these that made the old man really feel his age. To think, the fate of the entire prestigious Asakura line laid entirely on the shoulders of this hopeless slacker… Oh what was the world coming to?
"…grumble…stupid leaves… mumble… stupid smelly, balding old men… ice cream…"
"EX-CUSE ME!" the little boy snapped out of his reverie to glance over his shoulder in pale-faced shock and horror. When grandpas eyes got all big and veiny like that, Yoh got kind of scared they'd pop out and attack him or something equally horrible… "I'll show you what this smelly balding old man can do, you lazy idiot!" the old man barked as the brown, dead leaves littering the field burst into violent (literally) motion.
"ACK!" 'He's psychic too?'
Poor Yoh nearly made it all the way back to the main house before the leaf sprites caught up. And almost cut his usual sprinting time in half to-boot, Yohmei Asakura found himself nodding in admiration as he tinkered with his stopwatch. He paused while logging this in Yohs personal training log just long enough to give his grandson an absent thumbs-up in response to the little boys cries of "Call Them Off! CALL 'EM OFF! ARGH!"
n.n
"Honestly, if you want to be the Shaman King half as badly as you claim to, you really must work harder with your trai-"
"I don't wanna." Yohmei rolled his eyes in exasperation as he lectured (or at least tried to) the four year old. Yoh poked half-heartedly at his rice, his rounded face set in a pout as he sulked about the events that had unfolded shortly before lunch. "I wanted to be the Shaman King so I wouldn't have to work hard." He sniffed pointedly as he nibbled on the end of his wooden chopstick.
"You can never have something for nothing Yoh, that's just not the way the world works. The Great Spirit doesn't integrate with just any old fool you know, you have to earn the honour of being the Great Spirits host. Only a powerful shaman can do that." Yoh chewed thoughtfully on the end of his chopstick in response to his grandfather's words.
"But I am powerful!" the little boy smirked triumphantly around his chopstick, a disturbing glint in his eye as he flexed his mighty, mighty four year old muscles.
"You Can't Even Summon a Shikigami!" the senior Asakura felt a vein twitch in his forehead as he glared down at his tiny grandson, who had obviously not registered what the old man had said at all, as he posed heroically and punched jubilantly at some invisible foe, still diligently gnawing away on the end of his chopstick. "Take That Out of Your Mouth! You'll Ruin Your Teeth!"
n.n
"Ooowww… You didn't have to hit me."
"Oh stop whining, I barely even tapped you. Now eat your food before it gets any colder." The old man sighed in resignation as he leaned back with his trusty pipe. Yoh chewed thoughtfully (and thankfully silently) on a rice ball, actually obeying his grandfathers commands (for once). The onmyôji smiled softly as he gazed down at his grandsons uncharacteristically serious visage- it was times like these the boy reminded him so much of his own son, Mikihisa… Then again, by the time Mikihisa was four, he was already starting to learn how to integrate a soul into his own body, so beyond physical appearances the resemblance was nil. Yohmei felt that familiar vein throb beside his temple, but, as always, it was more a fond irritation than outright anger. In all honesty, he was proud of Yoh (despite the poor boys infuriatingly lazy tendencies) and wouldn't give him up for the world… The small boy glanced up from his dinner to give the older man a perplexed look.
"Sumt'n funny grampa?" he smacked obnoxiously around a mouthful of food before his eyes widened in realization. "Do I go' sumt'n stuck on ma face?" Yohmei bowed his head, trying vainly to suppress his grin as he watched Yoh rub vigorously at his face with the back of his hand. It was times like this he wondered how such a carefree child had come from two such serious and reserved adults… 'Ah Keiko, if only you could see your precious son now…' Wait a second… There had been something he was supposed to mention… Now what was that again…?
"Ah yes!" he exclaimed, smacking his fist against his open palm and startling the younger shaman-in-training from his previous face-scrubbing activities. "Yes… that's it!"
"…What's 'it' grandpa…?" Yoh said cautiously as he leaned slightly away from his grandfather. The senior Asakura gave the boy what he was sure was his most comforting smile. Yoh began to shake as he leaned further away, his eyes widening in horror, quickly glancing between his grandfather and the door as if he was weighing his options. Not only did the 'smile' look more like a savage baring of teeth, the unnatural expression also increased the number of wrinkles on the elders face threefold, giving the illusion of his eyes disappearing into malicious narrowed slits of grey sagging skin, and for some odd reason, made his ears wiggle ominously…
Seeing that the 'comforting' smile hadn't had the desired effect on the (traumatized) boy, Yohmei instead settled for his usual 'knowing' smile as he puffed absently on his pipe.
"Your grandmother is coming for a visit today Yoh, and she's bringing a guest." The four year old blinked in surprise. A guest? Here? He wondered who, or what, it could possibly be… He felt the excitement bubbling up to the surface as his mind flew through all the possible options, until suddenly, it hit him. It was obvious! It had to be… He felt his face twist into a huge grin as he lunged at his grandfather with joy, taking the older man by surprise and actually knocking him over. Yohmei felt himself chuckle heartily at his grandsons excitement, playfully tousling the small boys hair as he pulled himself back up amidst the four year olds never-ending repetitions of "Oh thank you thank you thank you!"
"I see your happy about meeting Anna! Heh, you should have heard the racket your father kicked up about it all those years ago." The onmyôji chirped. Yohs face fell instantly.
"…'Anna'? Is that the elephants name?"
n.n
Yohmeis scowl deepened as he checked inside the broom closet, various shikigami zipping by, also poking and prodding around the Asakura compound and the surrounding landscape.
To make a long story short, Yoh hadn't been pleased with the news.
The old shaman growled softly in exasperation as he slid the closet door shut behind him.
And now Yoh was missing.
A small leaf sprite wafted up and offered the elder Asakura his hip flask, to which the man gratefully took a swig, then sternly handed it back to the shikigami as he dragged himself wearily over to the table once more.
"Fill it with something stronger. Much stronger." He rasped over his shoulder at the small earth spirit, his voice already raw from the contents of the flask. The leaf sprite gave a sharp nod before disappearing back into the depths of the Asakura compound. Yohmei rested his head in his hand. He'd need something to dull the pain after being chewed out by his wife when she showed up with her precious apprentice all the way from Mt. Osore only to find him pupil-less…
n.n
Yoh stopped briefly by one of the springs on his families compound, the red tablecloth containing all his worldly possessions bobbing ungracefully at the end of the broomstick he'd managed to smuggle from the kitchen. Marry him off will they? No way! Girls were gross. They were all… giggly, and played dumb things like 'house' or dressing up their dolls or something. And they had 'cooties'. He'd heard some of the other boys in his kindergarten mention it, and though he wasn't really sure what these mysterious 'cooties' were, they certainly didn't sound good… Besides, no one else in his class was married, well, except the teacher, but she was old and smelled funny…
Gradually, the noise inside his head died away as he gazed deep into the small streams surface, easily becoming mesmerized by the tiny swirls of spiritual energy, twisting and unfurling with the current like they were performing some sort of dance for his eyes only.
Maybe… maybe he would go back. At least be man enough to tell this 'Anna' that he'd sworn himself to celibacy to her face instead of running off behind everyones backs… Besides, he simply couldn't think of any kind of performance he'd like to star in after he'd joined the circus…
"Hey." Yoh whirled around in shock, to find himself face to face with a strange blonde girl with the most disdainful look humanly possible gracing her almost elfin features. "Are you Yoh Asakura?"
"… Uh huh." He gaped stupidly in response. The next thing he knew, he was falling, falling, falling backwards to end with a rather graceless splash in the stream he'd been admiring less than a minute ago. The young Asakura stuttered in shock, too shaken by the sudden turn of events to even begin to form comprehensible words, let alone a sentence. The girl scowled darkly at him, firmly planting her hands on her hips as she stuck her nose in the air.
Yoh wasn't brave enough to point out the fact that, at his level, he could see up her skirt. Instead, he chose the route that was less likely to get him killed.
"Wh- Why'd you push me?"
"Because it's rude to make a lady wait." Yoh simply blinked at the sheer lack of logic in this reasoning.
"You shoved me because of that?"
"Especially if that lady is your future wife." The girl snapped sharply down at him. Yohs jaw dropped. There was a long pause as he quietly looked her over.
"You're… Anna?"
"That's right."
"…Man, you're ugly!"
This time Annas jaw dropped.
…Hell hath no fury…
n.n
"OwOwOwOwOWWW!" He struggled pathetically against the iron grip clamped firmly (and most uncomfortably) around his ear as Anna literally dragged him (bloodied and bruised) back to his house. Finally, when his insistent snivelling grew too annoying to ignore, she stopped in her tracks and unceremoniously threw the blubbering boy to the ground, swooping down upon him like a hawk upon an unsuspecting field mouse. With much the same result.
"Stop whining! You're supposed to be a boy aren't you? I can't believe you are senseis grandson. Look at you, you're so… so weak. You're nothing but an embarrassment to the whole Asakura name. If I were your grandmother, I'd be ashamed to admit you were a part of my family." Yoh struggled to his feet, indignantly rubbing the tears from his eyes as he glared at Anna.
"I am not weak." He sniffed, his voice cracking slightly from previously screaming. He crossed his arms and stuck his nose up in air, doing his best impersonation of the blonde girl. The itako-in-training narrowed her eyes at him. What? Was he, a lowly, moronic weakling honestly challenging her? Her teeth clenched as she raised his confiscated broomstick threateningly. What had her teacher been thinking when she arranged for this doofus to be her future husband? She deserved so much better. Suddenly, the boys stern visage cracked- first one corner of his lip twitched, then the other, and then he just… burst.
Burst out into laughter. For the second time that day, Anna was caught totally off-guard. Then, she felt the indignation and anger slowly bubble to the surface, her tiny hands clenching into tiny fists as she grated her teeth.
"Are you mocking me?" she snapped coolly, making sure every word was laced with cold, dripping poison. The boy bit off his laughter as best he could, choking off the last few giggles as faked coughs before he turned back to face her, his arms resting behind his head and a relaxed smile on his face.
"Heh, I guess we started out on the wrong foot huh?" she blinked in response; of all the things she'd been expecting from the dorky-ily dressed boy, it certainly wasn't that. "So, why don't we just start over?" He bowed respectfully (for the first and last time in his life) before continuing. "My name is Asakura Yoh, future Shaman King extraordinaire."
The awkward silence that followed that statement was broken by the sound of a disdainful scoff.
"Shaman King? You? As if the King of Spirits would degrade Himself by communicating with someone as stupid as you." Where she'd been hoping to goad him to anger, instead she was met with an amiable, half-lidded smile.
"Maybe you're right…" the boy whispered softly, the wind blowing his thick bangs into his face as he turned to gaze up into the lowering afternoon sun. "But you never know… nothing's impossible." He finished with a cheerful chirp as he turned back to her, the whimsical expression gracing his features moments ago wiped clean beneath his goofy smile. Anna stared at him a moment before she had to turn away and slowly start back to the main house. She'd have to kill him if he knew he'd somehow managed to make her smile.
"It's improbable and grossly unlikely."
"But not impossible!" he quipped from behind her as he scrambled to catch up. He bumped into her back when she suddenly halted again. After a brief pause she purposefully dropped Yohs makeshift knap-sack to the ground with a heavy thunk (and the distinct tinkle of something being broken). "Hey!" she heard him exclaim as he dove for his junk. "That's my stuff!" She swiftly crouched down and absently batted his hands away from the bulging pile.
"I like this colour." She stated simply as she untied the red sheet and ripped it out from beneath the mound of random crap her future husband had decided to lug off with him. "I'm going to keep it." His mouth dropped open in protest, but she quickly cut him off with a pointed glare. "Think of this as our promise- If you're the Shaman King by the time we get married, I'll give it back to you. If you're not, I'll use it to hang you. Understood?" the boy gulped and nodded. Good. He could be trained. "Now pick up your junk and lets get back. Supper should be ready by now." She finished as she absent-mindedly tucked the wrinkled red cloth under her arm.
"…Can I at least have the tablecloth back to tie it all up in again?"
"No."
And thus a beautiful relationship begins...
End RantWell, there be chapter one. Good? Bad? Retina-explodingly ugly? Constructive criticism is accepted and greatly appreciated.