Ryu X Sharona

Knight In The Moonlight's Shadow

From the Author: This will be the only Lily Five X Yoh Group fic which isn't a one-shot. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King I don't even think about claiming that I own it.

Chapter One: His Guilt

Sharona let out a sigh of boredom. She gracefully placed her hand under her head and leaned her cheek on her palm, as she watched a group of young lads sweating their asses off. These lads were none other than the team members of the Funbari Onsen team and team The Ren. While outside the arena and not fighting in the Shaman Fight, these guys were best buddies who stuck together wherever they went. Or at least most of the time.

The current occasion for their cohesion was Anna, who had summoned both teams for their usual training routine, which consisted of back-breaking training and physical overtaxing for long hours without a single moment taken for a break. Anna's training was more than enough to exhaust an experienced athlete, but Yoh and the others were enduring it without uttering a single word of complaint. It was useless to whine; Anna was not going to pay any attention to their grievances; she was just going to make it ten times harder for them.

Sharona was staring at the tallest, most mature member of the group: Ryu. The huge man with dangling pompadour hairdo and goatee was grinning like an idiot and jogging most vigorously with his weights attached to his limbs. Showing Anna signs that you enjoyed your training was by no means in your benefit; she would only grant your cooperation by doubling and tripling the weights and increasing your laps from 20 to 40. However, the woman noticed something odd in Ryu's behavior. He seemed to be… very happy, for some reason. He was completely oblivious to anything that happened around him, to his own body and to the torment of his fellows. The man outran Yoh and kept running faster and faster, grinning and laughing to something only he knew. He unbuttoned his sweaty shirt and threw it behind him, which slapped straight into Horo Horo's face. Ryu was completely bare-chested under it.

Sharona cocked her eyebrows in surprise and amazement. Damn! That guy was running with the speed of a galloping horse! Even Anna was staring wide-eyed at him! Sharona had never beheld something as incredible as this. She groped across the table and got a grip around the glass of orange juice she was sipping on. She was so concentrated on the sprinting Ryu that some of the juice missed her mouth and dripped down her chin, staining her dress and snapping her out of her trance. She leaped from her chair and cursed, then desperately tried to rub the juice off her dress. It was to no avail, of course. She had to get back to the lodgings, where she would have to wash the dress herself. And she loved that dress, it was her favorite!

"Well, I suppose I can do with that horrible white dress with flowers Ellie gave me for a couple of days." Sharona thought gloomily as she stood from her chair and was about to leave the café. She had already paid the waitress and hopefully, she wouldn't have to go through the humiliation of appearing before that stuck-up bitch with that orange stain on her dress. Now, if she could only find something to hide it, till she gets back to the lodgings… Maybe she could use her handbag to hide it…

"Hi, Sharona!"

The blonde froze stiff in her pace. She slowly turned around. It was surprising that the vertebrae of her neck didn't creak like the rusty hinges of a door.

Three people stood behind her. The first was Tamao Tamamura, the cute shy pink-haired girl with her two perverted spirits; the second was Lyserg Diethyl, the green-haired dowser and Millie's not-so-secret crush. The last one was Manta Omayada, a short, young, rather intelligent kid, who was the former unofficial mascot of Yoh's group. All three of them now participated in the Shaman Fight as an official separate team under the name of 'Team Pendulum'.

Tamao, the one who greeted Sharona, waved a hand at her. The blonde made a bitter smile.

"Oh, crap…" She muttered to herself. Then she put on a cheery, friendly smile and grinned: "Hello, there! Long time no see, Tamao."

"Anna told us to come with the others for the training. We saw you when passing by and thought about saying 'Hello'." – Manta said affably.

"What a bad timing." Sharona thought gloomily. She rummaged through her vocabulary for a polite response for the current situation, but her mind was pretty blank right now. All she uttered was:

"Soooo… I heard you were also participating in the Shaman Fight."

Lyserg nodded.

"I am in gratitude to Yoh-kun for helping me so much last year. I'll be of better use to him and everyone else if I rejoin the Shaman Fight."

Tamao added:

"And seeing as Manta's skills and mine have improved a lot over the last few months, we decided to join, too."

Though at any other time and in any other occasion Sharona would be happy to chat with these folks, right now she was searching for a way to end this conversation as soon as possible.

"Yeah, that's nice." She mumbled diplomatically. "Well, I wish you good luck in the fight!"

"Thanks a lot, Sharona!" Manta grinned. "I only hope that we won't meet on the arena; I'll be having hard time fighting you."

"Yeah, so do I…" Sharona felt that the moment was upon her and used the opportunity to make her escape. "Now, if you excuse me, I gotta—"

"Hey, have you seen Millie-chan recently?" Lyserg suddenly asked.

Sharona stopped, just as she had turned around and was about to scamper away, and looked at him.

"Why, yes, I see her every day in our lodges." She answered coldly. "Why are you asking?"

Lyserg turned pensive and uttered:

"We were supposed to meet yesterday at the fun-fair, but she wasn't there…"

Sharona was sweating now. They could see that spot of orange juice on her dress any moment now!

"She was… with… Ellie yesterday." Sharona extemporized. She honestly had no idea where the hell Millie had been yesterday. "They had to buy souvenirs from the shop aaaaand some new clothes. Well, now, I—"

"If you see her today, will you tell her to meet me at the Patch Diner tomorrow morning?" Lyserg interrupted her once again.

Sharona glared at him witheringly but managed to reply in a composed tone:

"Yes, I will. I'll make sure not to forget."

The blonde clutched her handbag and ran as fast as she could towards her lodgings, which were five streets away from here. A group of puzzled Manta, Tamao and Lyserg were left behind to stare at the diminishing cloud of dust in the distance.

"She looks like she's in a real hurry." Manta noted thoughtfully.

After a short moment of silence, during which Manta was scratching his head, Tamao mentioned:

"Did anyone notice that there was an orange spot on her dress?"

Sharona couldn't stand filth. She would never allow herself to go out with a dress that had a single spot on her. She considered herself a beautiful, elegant woman, who had to wear beautiful, elegant, and of course – CLEAN – clothes. There was no way she would ever spoil the image she worked so hard on accomplishing.

This was the reason why she ran so fast towards her lodgings. And that was the reason why she completely forgot that she was going to cross through Anna's training area, through which the guys were supposed to make another lap. It was incredibly unfortunate for Sharona that Ryu, who was running far ahead of the group, ran straight into her and knocked her down on the ground.

He blinked. The man quickly realized that he was lying on top of Sharona, who was beginning to choke. Without much hesitation, he got off her with a leap for two main reasons: He was about to kill her and people might think of something indecent when seeing him bare-chested and lying on top of Sharona. The woman groaned in pain. She took a sitting position and coughed out some dust that had entered her lungs. Ryu offered her a hand to stand up.

"I'm sorry!" – He apologized worriedly. "Are you alright?"

Sharona looked at him. She saw a towering brawny giant standing in front of her. His large shadow was completely concealing her. The woman raised her hand and weakly gripped at Ryu's large palm. He carefully closed his hand and slowly pulled her up.

"I've never imagined he'd be so gentle and so strong at the same time." Sharona thought with surprise.

She stepped on her feet and let go of his hand. She desperately brushed the dust off her dress. The fact that dirt had stuck to the stained spot of orange juice didn't make her feel any better.

"I'm sorry about your dress." Ryu apologized meekly. "It's my fault this happened."

Sharona realized she was blushing. All that attention she received from Ryu was stirring something inside her that made her feel dizzy and so unbelievingly embarrassed at the same time. She exclaimed:

"No, don't worry! I… I'll get this dress cleaned in no time! I just have to…"

Sharona chose to cut out her pointless rambling and just go on her way already. She stepped forth with her right foot, but when she set her left one on the ground, she winced and groaned when a sharp pain pierced her ankle. Sharona was about to fall on the ground when Ryu's hand shot forth and grabbed her arm. He leaned her arm over his shoulder so that she can support herself on him.

"Your leg seems hurt." – He noted anxiously.

Sharona bit her lip. It appeared that her 'close encounter' with Ryu had ended up with something more than a dirtier dress. Her ankle hurt like hell.

"I'm fine." She babbled out, even though this was a blatant lie. She tried to step on her sprained her leg, but this only caused her more pain. Ryu clearly saw her reaction and frowned like a parent at his mischievous child.

"No, you're not!" He stated. "I'm taking you to the Patch hospital!"

Sharona cursed mentally. She couldn't believe that her day had turned out to be so bad. Despite her desperate pleas to leave her and her unconvincing assurances that she was fine, Ryu walked her all the way to the hospital.

Ellie stared in disbelief.

"They're in the hospital!?" She exclaimed in shock.

"Yes." Ren confirmed seriously. "It seems Ryu had accidentally ran into Sharona after making that sharp turn near the souvenir shop."

"That numskull!" Sally roared out in boiling anger. "I'll beat the crap out of him!"

Manta raised his hands worriedly, trying to calm down the infuriated woman.

"There's no need to react so violently, Sally! I'm sure Ryu didn't mean to hurt Sharona like that!"

Sally leaned over the small boy and glowered at him. Manta recoiled in fear.

"How the hell are we supposed to participate in the Shaman Fights without our leader!? We are one member less and there's no telling how long it will take for her injuries to heal!"

Anna said in a nonchalant manner:

"You can explain the situation to a Priest and easily have one of your group who hasn't fought yet substitute for Sharona."

The expressions on the girls' faces clearly showed that they weren't aware of this option.

"So the team members aren't fixed?" Lilly ascertained in surprise.

"Of course they aren't." Yoh guaranteed with a smile. "This is a new rule that the Patch Council passed when the Shaman Fight was started over. When one of your team members is ill, too tired or too injured to fight, he can have a replacement to cover up for him until he recuperates."

A sigh of relief escaped the Lilies' mouths.

"Thank God!" Ellie spoke. "Now we won't have to worry about having to fight with one member less."

Anna raised an eyebrow haughtily.

"Didn't you know about this rule?" She asked in a luke-warm voice.

There was a mutual sweat-drop among the remaining Lilies.

"Ugh…" Ellie drawled embarrassedly. "We didn't have time to get acquainted with all the new rules in detail."

After a short silence, Anna murmured without much interest:

"I'm sure you didn't."

Yoh tried to make up for Anna's lack of sensitivity by changing the topic:

"We'll be going to the hospital to see how Sharona is. Won't you come with us?"

"Of course!" Ellie exclaimed determinedly. "We can't let Sharona sit there all alone after what she's been through!"

"I think Ryu is still there to keep her company." Yoh added.

"Then I say we'd get going!" Sally stated with a frown. "There's no telling what that guy might do to her next."

Half a minute later, the door of the lodging closed behind them, with only Manta's voice complaining about how hard Sally was judging Ryu.

A doctor at the hospital confirmed that Sharona had bruised her ankle. Hopefully, the injury wasn't too serious and Sharona's ankle was just bandaged. However, the doctor insisted that she doesn't participate in Shaman Fights until her ankle healed.

Ryu sat on a chair opposite the bed where Sharona was lying and having her ankle bandaged by the nurse. He was staring at the doctor, the nurse, the syringes and other medical equipment in the room, the windows, the door, Sharona's leg… every other object, except for Sharona's face. However, just because he wasn't looking at the woman's eyes didn't mean that he couldn't feel her death glare etching into his face.

At some point, he dared look at her in the eyes. The frown on her face was making her unrecognizable.

Ryu murmured guiltily:

"I hope your ankle heals soon…"

Sharona snorted arrogantly and turned her head away. She asked angrily:

"Am I already too much of a burden to you?"

The man raised his hands and stammered:

"No! I didn't mean that! I was just worried about you!"

The woman cut him off mercilessly while still staring in the opposite direction:

"Your worries won't change a thing!" Her frown deepened. "Our match has already been appointed for Thursday and there's no way my ankle will get better by then! Without me, the Lily Five will lose the fight for sure!"

Ryu lowered his head grievously. He realized now how much damage he had actually cost. Sharona's injury was one thing; the more serious problem was that the Lily Five were one team member short and it happened to be their most important one: their leader. Without Sharona's guidance, the chances that the Lily Five would lose against their opponents were extremely high. The guilt crashed over Ryu's shoulders, more powerful than ever before.

"There has to be something you can do." Ryu contemplated over the situation.

Sharona laughed sourly.

"Even if I can get Ellie or Millie to cover up for me, our team will still be in danger. Those two have been out of training recently and won't be able to cooperate with Sally and Lilly efficiently. The teamwork will not be the same as it is when I am there."

Ryu was listening to Sharona's words with a hint of surprise. Though Sharona superficially looked and acted like an arrogant woman, Ryu knew that Sharona had a gentler, kinder side under that thin shell of complacency. At times like this, the mask she wore in front of society was cracking up and revealing her soft side… along with some flaws Ryu had not expected to see in her. Her lack of confidence in her teammates was what shocked him most.

"You underestimate Ellie and Millie too much." He reproached her. "How can you think that they're not capable of handling something so important to you after everything you've been through?"

Sharona looked at him. Her frown had disappeared. There was only sadness in her eyes now.

The nurse finished bandaging Sharona and helped her and Ryu leave the hospital. Five minutes later, the two of them were walking slowly towards the Lilly Five's lodgings. Ryu had bought her crutches from the medical centre and she was now using them according to their purpose. For ten minutes, they were walking in complete silence. The man was glancing at her anxiously, observant for any other discomforts Sharona might have had. For his relief, he didn't notice any. The blonde was staring right in front of her, walking on her crutches in some kind of melancholic reverie.

Ryu gazed at her expression. Her features were exposing some kind of inner anguish. He opened her mouth to ask if she was alright when Sharona suddenly said:

"Ellie and Millie are afraid."

Ryu kept looking at her, not uttering a word.

- It's not only because they haven't trained a lot… They are more afraid for the other girls than they are for themselves." Sharona continued. "They are just too… protective. Ellie is like a sister to everyone and Millie…" The woman laughed with a small smile. "…She's the little sister, always caring for everyone's safety… I'm not saying that they can't fight. I'm saying that they are not meant to fight."

Ryu raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"If you mean that their protectiveness towards the others is a bad thing, I'll have to correct you. Teamwork is all about looking out for each other. MasterYoh and Faust are—"

"They are overdoing it." Sharona interrupted him seriously. "Ellie and Millie will waste their time acting as a shield for Sally, Lilly or myself when they'll be more useful if they concentrate on defeating their enemies. Those two are too concerned about protecting us when they have to be concerned about winning."

"A human's life is more important than anything." Ryu disagreed with Sharona. "You can't tell them to go all out on the enemy and completely forget that there are allies who might need them."

Sharona sighed and murmured irritatedly:

"It appears you misunderstood me… yet again." She stopped walking and looked at him with a sparkle of anger in her eyes. "What I am trying to explain is that their overprotectiveness is completely unnecessary because Sally, Lilly and I can take care of ourselves! Their concern for us is so great that it's… offending! It's as if we're little children! They're terribly underestimating us!"

Ryu shook his head and said:

"Ellie and Millie-chan just hold you dear, Sharona. Just because they want to protect you doesn't have to mean that—"

"Here you go again…" Sharona rolled her eyes.

She didn't bother to look at him twice before striding ahead of him, as fast as she could with her crutches. The man sighed, now feeling guiltier than ever. Ryu quickly caught up with her.

"Sharona, I understood what you are trying to tell me, but—"

"Then don't argue with me!" The blonde cut him off gloomily. "I know Ellie and Millie a lot better than you do. I know their strengths, weaknesses and fears and I know that if I let any of those two fight in my place, we'll lose…"

She stopped her pessimistic rant because loud voices came to her hearing. Several of them were female and they all sounded very familiar. They were coming from around the corner a few feet away from Sharona.

"That sounds like Sally." She observed. "And she sounds pissed off."

She and Ryu stood where they were and waited for the group to show itself. A few seconds later, the voices of the other Lilies became completely discernable and it wasn't too late when the girls themselves showed up. They all had worried expressions on their faces. When they saw Sharona standing in front of them with her bandaged ankle and her crutches, they all let out excited and anxious yelps and came to her, showering her with concerned questions.

"Sharona, what happened to your leg!?" – Ellie exclaimed and stared at her, completely out of her skin.

Sharona forced a smile on her face and stated in her normal voice:

"Nothing to worry about, it's just bruised. It should—"

"Bruised!!" – Ellie exclaimed.

Sharona sweat-dropped. Her friend's overreaction was bothering her.

Sally glowered at Ryu, who recoiled because his instinct of self-preservation was triggered. Sally usually affected people that way when she was livid with anger.

"You!" She grumbled and pointed at him. Ryu turned pale. The redhead strode towards him and gripped at his collar. The burly man was amazed that the woman raised him two feet in the air.

"Son of a bitch! You did this to Sharona!" She roared. Ryu gained mantic abilities for a few seconds, because he clearly saw how he was going to be beaten to a bloody pulp by this female monstrosity with explosive temper. It was a good thing that Millie was there to clutch at Sally's leg and exclaim:

"Sally, let him go!"

"That bastard's the reason why Sharona can't walk!" Sally stated angrily, while still keeping Ryu hanging in the air. "Do you think I'll let him go just like that!?"

"Sally, my leg is just bruised! It's not like I am disabled!" Sharona announced carpingly. She freed herself from Ellie's anxious clutches and lugged towards Sally. She told Millie to let go of Sally's leg and lowered the redhead's hand. Miraculously, Ryu hadn't passed out yet.

"Beating him up won't heal my ankle." The blonde explained with a patient tone, much like a mother trying to reason her stubborn child. "I know you want to kick his ass, but then we'll get in trouble with Yoh and the others."

Sally frowned and started:

"But he—"

"I said let him go!" Sharona insisted. "I'm sure his conscience is giving him more than enough discomfort right now. You don't have to make it worse for him."

At first, Ryu was stunned by Sharona's negligent protectiveness, but then the guilt nettled him again when the woman clearly admitted that it was his fault she now needed crutches to walk. The leader of the Lily Five stared at Sally's obstinate expression for a few seconds and took her hand, leading her away from Ryu.

"Let's go and have some rest." Sharona mumbled exhaustedly. "I've had a rough day today."
"Hey, Sharona!" Another voice came from around the corner of the street. A second later, Yoh, followed by Ren and the rest of the gang appeared. Yoh examined worriedly the picture in front of him: from Ryu's saddened face to Sharona's bandaged foot. The boy looked at her and stated:
"Your leg looks pretty injured, Sharona."

Ellie and Lilly glared at him. The latter murmured reprehensively:

"Thanks for stating the obvious."

Anna, who could not be moved by something as frivolous and insignificant as a bruised leg, just said tepidly:

"I've seen worse. A little pain will be good for your endurance, missy. It will steel you nicely."

The Lilies now glared at Anna. Sharona, who had just addressed so impolitely, was the most irritated one.

"I know many ways to heal a wounded leg in a matter of seconds!" Faust proclaimed enthusiastically. "I don't even need my scalpels or anesthetic to fix this."

Sharona threw a quick glance at the doctor. The bags under his eyes had gotten slightly bigger and darker, his blonde hair was still a mess and his eyes still had that hidden crazy sparkle of the mad scientist in them. The blonde made up her mind in a split-second.

"That's very kind of you, but I'll be fine without your medical care." She stated with dismissal in her voice. Then she nodded imperatively at her teammates. The five of them walked pass the surprised Yoh and his gang without uttering another word.

The mixture of guilt, sadness and anger at his own uselessness was tearing Ryu apart. He exclaimed desperately:

"Sharona, please, I can—"

"Cut it out, Ryu!" Sharona sighed and gazed at him. "Just… leave me alone, okay? You did what you could today…"

She turned her back at him and walked away. Ellie and Millie were standing close to her and supporting her as she moved. Sally threw one last death glare at Ryu before leaving. Ren stared at her as the group moved down the street.

"And she didn't say one 'Goodbye.'" He murmured to himself.

Horo patted Ryu consolingly on his broad back.

"You did your best, man. Don't get too worked up over this, Ryu, she's just pissed off. She'll get over it soon."

The man sighed deeply. He threw one last glance at the Lily Five. He could see Sharona's bright, blond, curled hair stand out in the middle of the group.

"Yeah." Ryu muttered and nodded, as if trying to convince himself. "She'll get over it… somehow."
The guilt was still devouring him from the inside. Ryu didn't know if he could bear the thought that the Lily Five lost their next match because of him.

From the Author: End of Chapter One! Share your opinions and thoughts of this couple and the story. I'll be updating soon.