Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King, but the original characters here are my creations.
"Fear Chain"
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"GO BED NOOOOOOOOOOW." Anna roared and pointed to the stairs, but none of them moved. The three girls, covered in different paint colors, just stared at her with an amused smile for a minute and then laughed. It was funny to see her covered with paint: white in her head, black on her right arm, green at her dress, orange in her left arm and a mix of the colors in her legs. "Don't tempt your luck." The older sister added with a menacing voice, she was running out of patience.
"Come on, sis! Do you really think that scares us?" Inna asked with her usual grin.
"We live with mom, no one can be scarier than her." Irina added with a shrug.
"She is a tiger, you are just a kitten." Karenina explained while cleaning her glasses with the corner of her t-shirt that was still clean.
Anna's rage levels were already way too high from its limit, she was just controlling herself because she knew she couldn't harm them and, yeah, maybe because she couldn't harm three little girls without having it in her conscience. But I could verify that hunch, maybe I'm not that kind of good person. She shook her head to silence the voice in her head telling her just to give them a lesson, but she won't let them win anyway!
"Well, this kitten has claws and is about to use them," she said in the worse mood she had ever used with her sisters. "If you appreciate your lives you will go bed now."
"Come on, Anya. At least we have to take a bath," Irina said.
"You don't want us getting the room and futons dirty." Karenina added slyly.
Anna frowned and suppressed an annoyance groan because of Karenina's smartness, she was right (again. Why was she always right?! Damn it!). She snorted and rolled her eyes, then walked to the hot springs indicating them to follow her with one hand. The three kids chuckled and followed her there, now it was just the dinner issue, but it wasn't a big deal since they could beg Ryu for food.
"Hi!" Inna waved crossing the door to the springs followed by her two smiling thirds and a really, really, pissed Anna.
Tamao, Jun and Pirika smiled and greeted from the water, feeling a little sorry for Anna because she seemed to have had a really bad day. They knew she wouldn't dare to harm her little sisters, so she was surely as stressed as she had never been in the last years and unable to set her rage free.
"Anya, it doesn't wash," said Irina, looking her reflection in the mirror with her usual bored expression. She wasn't even trying to wash her hair, she just put some shampoo there.
Anna sighed and sat behind her to wash the girl's hair. "It won't wash itself, you know. It's not enough with putting some shampoo if you don't use your hands."
"Uhm."
"You know she is too lazy for that. Mom does it for her because she can spend days without doing it properly." Karenina explained next to her.
"You have to be kidding me." Anna said looking at her with narrowed eyes. "And I thought Yoh could be lazy."
"Uh? Do you wash Yoh's hair too?" Inna asked curiously.
"OF COURSE NOT!" Anna roared with her face all red and grasping involuntarily Irina's head.
"Ouch," she complained without changing her face.
Pirika, Tamao and Jun were chuckling in the water, they would never get bored about those girls' comments and the way they could tease their older sister like no one else could. They were not in danger since she would never harm them even if she wanted because, apparently, her mother was more dangerous than her.
The four sisters entered the water after a long discussion three vs one about the reasons why she could actually wash Yoh's hair and why Anna's answer was not obvious at all. Of course, Anna looked even more pissed right now and the girls were chuckling. Yes, it was obvious they really enjoyed teasing her in any occasion they had.
"Ah, miss Anna. Mistress Yelena called earlier." Tamao informed her.
"Did you tell her about her brats riling me?"
"You are short of genius and that's not our fault." Karenina snapped. And the other two nodded in agreement. Anna just glared at them, using words was useless, they were almost indomitable and she had to find out a way to make them obey before they drive her nuts.
"Stop that. Karenina told you: you are a just a kitten," Inna said and shrugged, "No one can fear a kitten."
"I know she is scarier than me. But a kitten?! Come on!" Anna rolled her eyes, feeling offended because of the comparison.
"Yup. A kitten." The three said at the same time.
"You can't be serious! At least a cat or a tiger's cub. But a kitten?! You are giving me very little credit." She frowned at them.
"Yeah, I agree with Anna. A kitten couldn't control all the guys." Pirika commented, feeling offended as well because Anna was a good person and nice when she wanted to be but she was really scary and violent when she was mad. If she was a kitten the rest of them were mice.
"See?" Anna said raising an eyebrow with a 'that was obvious' attitude.
"Well, maybe is that you are lower in the food chain." Irina commented thoughtfully.
"Hey." The three other girls protested at unison, frowning at them.
"Let me explain our point of view," Karenina said, closed her eyes, cleared her throat and continued when she got their whole attention: "Let's stablish the comparison parameters first. We have the Tiger, that's our mother, no one mentally healthy would walk in the way of a furious tiger."
"But you are her daughters, that made all of you tiger's cubs," Jun said.
"You are wrong. We are not talking about blood relationships, we are talking about the ability to induce fear," Irina said.
"How is that a kitten could induce fear?!" Anna asked in exasperation.
"It usually doesn't." The three girls shrugged.
"An angry kitten could." Tamao mumbled and shrank smiling nervously cause of Anna's instantaneous glare.
"Yup. An angry kitten could harm you and made you cry anyway." Inna nodded.
"Well, let's continue. Our mother is a tiger, then it's Eri, who will be a tiger in short term—"
"Eri is our sister-in-law! How is that she is in this ranking of yours? I thought we were talking just about our blood." Anna protested interrupting Karenina's explanation.
"No, this is about who scares the most. And she had babysited us too, so she enters." Inna stated with her arms crossed over her chest. Anna rolled her eyes and snorted, that was unfair, Eri was older and had a lot more experience with kids!
"Like I was saying before being so rudely interrupted," Karenina continued, frowning briefly to Anna, "It's mom, Eri, then it comes Arne who is like a tiger's cub, then dad who is not a feline but a canine so he is more like a wolf, then Sasha who is less than a wolf and we think she fits like a dog (a lap dog sometimes), and then it's you: the kitten."
"Wait! Are you telling me I'm the last one? Really?!" Anna asked incredulous and then mad, "But why a freaking kitten?!"
"Well, we thought about a cat, but…" Irina started.
"But?" The four older girls asked, frowning. It wasn't logical, after a dog she could be a cat at least.
"But then we realized the cat is Yoh." Inna shrugged.
"What?!" They all asked incredulous. How could it be Yoh?! He was under Anna's control, they knew, he knew, the whole world knew.
"Let me explain that," Karenina said raising her hand, "You know kittens are always been watched from some distance by a big cat. The cat feeds her, keeps all clean, teaches how to deal with some stuff because the kitten is still learning how to control her instincts, he tries to make her happy and comfortable, he gives her space but is always taking care, and the kitten can control the cat with her wishes making him do whatever she wants. Also, if someone dares to touch his kitten he will surely be scarier than hell."
The four older girls opened their mouths in astonishment and stared at the nodding triplets. They really did a whole study about the situation.
"Well, if you put it that way," Jun said thoughtfully "I guess they are right."
"Don't be on their side." Anna frowned at Jun.
"But it's true: Yoh feeds you, keeps the house clean, makes you happy, helps you to emotionally deal with his friends, you control him…" Pirika said, taking her chin thoughtfully.
"And he would be mad if someone tries to hurt you." Tamao added looking up as thoughtful as the others.
"See now? He is the cat and you are the kitten." Inna said with her usual grin.
"You changed the whole subject. This was about who could control you better because you were most scared of," Anna protested crossing her arms over her chest with a light blush in her face.
"Yeah, but if you think about it. We should be more scared about Yoh because if we made you cry or we are too much for you he will tell mom, unlike you who would stay quiet." Karenina replied.
"Wow. They thought about everything." Jun looked at them surprised.
"It's pretty clever to think about it that way." Pirika said smiling at them.
Anna snorted and stood up, leaving the water and walking away to get dressed. "I'm done. You are impossible."
The triplets giggled from the water, they knew perfectly she was now ashamed because of the comparison between her and Yoh. And she had given them the reason about him being the cat because she didn't insist and that meant she didn't have reasonable arguments.
Anna dressed up quickly to stay away from them at least a few minutes before she checked they obeyed the order of going bed after the bath. Kids these days were so annoying, they enjoyed so much to tease her than it was maddening as less, and they had hurt her pride and her reputation too. Now all the people in the house would know about they not fearing nor respecting her at all and the stupid comparison of the kitten. How was it possible?! Even the soft Aleksandra was upper than her! And her dad? Please! He was the father who has most spoiled his daughters in history! She wasn't soft or nice to be that low and being compared to a damn cute kitten!
The blonde stopped thinking about it when she realized her stomps had driven her to the kitchen and perceived Yoh's interrogative look, she could not help but to frown and blush because she remembered the stupid cat's comparison. Then she realized, if they were right then Yoh could be her solution. She shook her head mad with herself for considering that alternative, she was Kyoyama Anna and she could not be beaten for three 8-year-old spoiled princesses and would certainly not ask for help because she would never do that. She always faced her own problems no matter what.
"Everything ok?" Yoh asked now in front of her.
"Yes." Anna responded, trying to not let him know she was so lost in her thoughts she didn't notice when he caught her up.
"What did they do this time? I heard you earlier."
"They used the paint cans we had in the garage for remodeling to paint a mural."
Yoh blinked and looked at her astonished, she always said they needed to be busy in something to not waste their time doing pranks and annoy her, an art project sounded perfect for that. He was sure Anna would rather to buy more paint and keep them busy instead of dealing with them the whole summer.
"How is that bad? We can buy more paint and it's good they focus in something like art, right?"
"The mural was the starter plan, but they ended up doing a paint war and threw all the paint to each other and to me when I tried to stop them." Anna said with her eyes closed and a frown. She opened her eyes and glare at Yoh when she heard him laugh, "It's not funny!"
He stopped laughing but kept and amused smile while biting his inferior lip to not laugh again. The next thing he felt was the legendary left of Anna followed by her stomps heading to the dining room. But far from making him control his behavior the slap made him laugh out loud from the floor and that pissed her even more. And her mood didn't get better when she entered the dining room and saw the triplets chatting with Pirika and Tamao. But, there were no signals of someone else, so maybe they had not told anyone about their Fear Chain and that made her feel less irritated.
"Are you still mad?" Inna asked when she saw her entering the dining room.
"I told you to go bed after the bath," she responded sharply.
"You never said without dinner." Karenina told her.
Anna rolled her eyes, sat down in her usual spot and didn't insist, just because she was already exhausted of them. It was just the third day and all she wanted was them gone for a long time, they were a pain in the ass and she didn't know how to deal with them. Maybe it was better to ignore those fallen angels, ergo demons, for the sake of her mental health.
"Fine." Inna rolled her eyes and stood up, followed by the other two and left the room under Anna's suspicious look.
"Ok. What are you planning?" she asked crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing. It's not fun when you don't try," Irina explained shrugging at the time she crossed the door.
Was that all? Ignore them and they will obey? That easy? No way! They were planning something! And she wouldn't let them act! It was better to have those three where her eyes could saw them. But, there was a high possibility of them planning to make her think they were planning something else so she finally would ask them to have dinner in a try to keep them under vigilance and stop whatever they tried at the beginning and not in course because of the delay of ghosts' notice. But, maybe they were not planning anything at all. Buuut, Irina said nothing and that could mean something and… What the hell, suit themselves. She wasn't in the mood to break her head thinking about the twisted mind of the three younger versions of herself. No, the three twisted younger and more spoiled versions of herself.
"Well, it seemed you managed to punish them." Yoh sat next to her with his usual grin and his still swollen cheek.
"I'm still mad at you."
"Oh, come on! I bet you will laugh when you remember the paint war in a few years," he said trying to cheer her up. Anna glared at him as answer. He smiled tenderly, she was surely having a bad time with her little sisters. "I could give you a hand with them, two vs three is better than one vs three."
"You should accept. He is the cat, kitten" Pirika said smirking at Anna.
"The cat?" Yoh said curiously, tilting his head to a side. Then looked at Anna, "Kitten?"
"Shut up, you mouse!" Anna snapped to her.
"Mouse?" he asked even more curious now.
"Hamster," she corrected. When she saw Anna's raising an eyebrow and looking at her incredulous she decided to explain: "We continued discussing our category, and they realized we are upper than the guys and we are also prettier so Tamao and I stayed as hamster."
"What?" Yoh was completely lost in that conversation. Was it a secret girl's talk or something?
"What about Jun?" Anna asked raising an eyebrow.
"She stayed as cat."
"What? Why?!" Anna cried out feeling offended. Jun was not even related to the family!
"Because she could call your mom too if she sees they are going too far and she is older and serious so the tiger would listen to her." Pirika explained shrugging. "Oh! Also, because she had killed people before, that gave her a bonus."
"Tiger?" Yoh looked at her like if she had something in the face.
"Fine. I don't care if the guys are still mice." Anna crossed her arms frowning to the table. It was unfair she had a lower category than Jun and Yoh, all because she would never call her mother admitting she could not control those brats.
"Who are mice?" Horo-Horo asked entering the room and sitting next to his sister. "Where are the Three Inas?"
Ren walked in just in time to hear Horo's question and sat next to Jun. He raised an eyebrow and looked questioningly to all of them, they seemed to be discussing something about domestic animals.
"No dinner for them today." Anna responded sharply.
"And I guess you, Manta, Ren and Ryu are the mice." Yoh added thoughtfully, after assembling some pieces about the animal category they apparently settle in the house.
"Why mice?" he asked feeling offended.
"Just a stupid classification those spoiled girls did, never mind." Anna responded and made it clear the subject must stop there. She didn't want Yoh listening the explanations about her and his category.
"I don't agree with that!" Ren protested standing and hitting the table, then pointed angrily to the ainu. "There is no way I could be at the same category than him!"
Anna rolled her eyes and exhaled heavily. Great, all of them discussing those stupid categories, just what she needed.
"Who is the tiger?" Yoh asked her curiously.
"Wait! Is there a tiger and I'm categorized as a mouse?!" Ren asked angrily.
"HA-HA! You couldn't be a tiger." Horo said mockingly, then frowned at Anna, "And I should be a wolf, Horokkeu means wolf."
"My mother is the tiger and we are not discussing this stupidity!" Anna stopped them before the situation was out of control.
They sat down quiet after her yell. Ryu entered and served the dinner for all, they continued eating normally with a trivial conversation until there was a brief silence and Yoh finished assembling the pieces.
"Got it! You are the kitten because your mom is the tiger and she is scarier!" he said grinning and pointing to Anna who started coughing due to the sudden comment made the food got stuck in her throat.
Ren and Horo looked to each other, then to Anna coughing and glaring to Yoh, and couldn't contain the aggressive laugh attack.
"HAHAHA. They see you like a kitten! HAHAHAHAHAHA." Horo mocked taking advantage of Anna's fault of air to avoid any hit from her. But he got it wrong, because no matter if she could not breath, she could call Zenki anyway and she did. Both shamans were thrown outside without prior advice.
"I think is cute, that means they like you, I mean everyone likes kittens." Yoh said giving her pats in the back to help her breath. He did not understand why she had reacted so bad for her category, she was actually like a kitten if he thought about it: when she was relaxed she was fragile, unharmful, beautiful, also purrly and affectionate when she wanted (and if they were alone). But, of course, she could set her claws out, attack and hiss when she felt a menace or someone bothered her. Yeah, she could be called a kitten.
"I don't want to seem cute for them! I want them to obey and to stop maddening me!" she finally exclaimed after recovering her breath.
"Well, maybe you could just try to be the tender and caring sister since you can't use menaces to keep them in the trail." Pirika suggested, gaining a death glare from Anna, "I would behave with a tender sister. It could be a really strong weapon, you know?" she added rapidly, trying to explain her point without risking her life.
"What if you think about them like your own kids?" Jun suggested smiling at her.
"My own kids wouldn't be this spoiled." Anna said sharply. "And I would be the tiger for them."
"What about me? What would I be for them?" Yoh pointed to himself curiously.
"I don't know, Yoh. I don't even know how the hell they decide who is up or down in this stupid Fear chain." Anna responded upset. "Can you believe Aleksandra is over me?!"
"Sasha? But she is the funny one. She is so soft and she always consent all their ideas." Yoh said incredulous.
"I know!" Anna said in exasperation.
"Maybe it's just they have not seen you furious. I mean, yes, you were pissed, but they had not trespassed the limit making you really want to harm them." Yoh said thoughtfully.
Anna thought about it for a minute. Then thought about Sasha when she was mad, really mad, furious… she got chills when she remembered her. Yes, they were right, she was frightening. Damn it! She was really over her, just her memory was enough to make Anna get chills.
"Never mind. Just stop talking about their stupid classification," she finally said.
"Why am I a cat? Shouldn't I be a kitten like you?" Yoh asked looking up curious.
"I said it was enough." Anna blushed slightly and got back to her dinner totally disposed to not talk about that subject again.
The rest of the dinner was the usual, nobody talked about categories again, the only thing breaking the peace was Ren and Horo's usual fights. At the time they were having dinner, the three kids were at the kitchen taking their own dinner. A ghost saw them and told Anna, but she decided to ignore that fact and consider that day a lost battle, not because she was following Pirika's advice but her mother would kill her if she punished her babies without dinner, food was too relevant for Yelena. That's when she remembered what Tamao said in the hot springs.
"Tamao, you said my mother called earlier."
"Ah! Yes, she called to check on the four of you and wants you to call her back."
A mischievous smile appeared in Anna's face, she would never call her for own will to complaint about her sisters but if she was giving her the opportunity to call and just because of the talk the issue of their behavior could came up, well, that was not her fault. It was just answering correctly and honestly her dear mother's questions. I never lost, she thought with a smirk and stood to make the call.