DISCLAIMER: I don't own Shaman King! If I did, the fight scene with Pailong would be shorter -.- it irks me that it spans two episodes. Don't ask why, it just does - like with those episodes when Tokagero comes in. XD

First off: apologies in case there are any underlines or misplaced italics and boldface type; FFnet screwed up the format a bit, but I think I fixed it...

Two: I have to say, this chapter makes me want to both do a facepalm for weird reasons, and giggle, even though there really isn't any reason to do either. I'm just weird, I guess. I updated a day earlier because I have a busy weekend ahead of me.

Today, we'll read a bit about Tori's backstory - which means FLASHBACK! (aka what makes her a Mary Sue and my reasoning for it that may or may not justify it and make it all better. Ugh... XD I'm so hard on myself), and some stuff about Pailong and Jun and how much they will love each other by the next chapter - and oh, what's this? REN MAKES AN APPEARANCE? ;D

If you are in any way confused by the events in this chapter, don't hesitate to put it in the review (I take anonymous reviews, to which I'll respond in A/Ns) or PM me. However, due to keeping the plot as spoiler-free as possible, some questions might not be answered. When I first thought up of Tori's backstory, I confused myself multiple times (which actually isn't that hard...).

Enjoy!

Six: Lee Pailong and Tao Jun

Once again, the day found Manta and me accompanying Yoh on his daily run. Since I had started living in the Asakura house, most of my time was divided up between helping Yoh and helping Anna. I wasn't as worked as Manta, though; I think Anna knew that I had something other to do besides clean.

I hadn't chased after that black car at all. I decided that if we saw it again, we'd deal with it then. Besides, it wasn't like this mystery was going to be solved in a split second or something if I did go after it. With our luck, something else would pop up.

Even though Anna was very demanding, I was actually getting along with her just fine. A few times, if Yoh and Manta had gone out without me (guy stuff, they'd say), I'd stay with Anna and watch television with her when I didn't feel like going around and watching for shaman and the Patch. She didn't speak much, and if she did it'd be rhetorical or a yes-or-no question. Not nearly as fun as the others, I thought as I jogged after Yoh, but I'm fine with it.

When we came up to a bench, Yoh stopped and leaned on it. "Let's…take a break…" he panted.

Amidamaru appeared. "Don't give up, Yoh-dono!" he urged. "You're half done!"

Yoh splayed himself across the bench. "Only half?" he cried despairingly. "If tears are the sweat of the heart, then sweat are the tears of the body."

I patted Yoh's shoulder reassuringly, and then quickly pulled my hand away when I realized his shirt was soaked.

"It's amazing you've kept up this long," Manta noted, trying to cheer Yoh up probably as he sat on the seat of his little bike. "Those weights keep on getting heavier."

"My food has been tasting great lately," Yoh mumbled.

I had to give Yoh a confused look along with Manta and Amidamaru.

"It's like working out in order to eat good food," Yoh explained with a tired grin. He let out a chuckle.

"Isn't it tough?" Manta asked.

"If I keep training, fighting will be easier with Amidamaru. Plus…if I think it's fun, it'll be fun." Yoh stretched and jumped up. "At this rate, I'll be able to eat five bowls of rice and still be hungry!" With a somewhat forced smile, he led the way down the road.

I was planning on how to tell them I was going to run another way than them when we passed a bulletin board. I stopped immediately, staring at the movie poster. A second later, Manta was beside me.

"Lee Pailong?" he yelled in excitement and also a bit of confusion.

I didn't stop staring at the poster. I wasn't much of a movie person, but I'd seen all of Lee Pailong's movies at least two times each - for me, that was a lot. I didn't know about other people, though. Looking at the poster brought back memories.

"Who's Lee Pailong?" Yoh asked in confusion.

Manta and I turned back to him and Amidamaru as one. "You don't know?" Manta asked incredulously.

"Nope," Yoh and Amidamaru said in unison.

Manta stood on the seat of his bicycle and was posed like a teacher. "Lee Pailong is in the history of movies. No, in the history of the world! He's an action star from seventeen years ago and he'll be remembered forever!"

I nodded. 'Lee Pailong is a kung fu hero that fights against evil in the movies,' I signed.

Manta nodded to me. "Pailong uses only his body to fight. He's superhuman! He's famous!"

Yoh scratched the back of his head. "I wasn't even born seventeen years ago…"

"This is after I died," Amidamaru added. "So…"

"You should watch this movie!" Manta urged, flailing. "It'll change the way you think!"

"Eh…nah," Yoh answered, beginning to run again. "I don't have Anna's permission, anyway."

Manta lost his balance on the bike and fell over. He quickly got back on and pedaled after Yoh. "Wait! Fists of Anger is one of his best movies!"

I jogged slowly after them, letting them go on ahead. Suddenly, my eyes caught a black van, and I stopped, looking directly at it. I could just see a figure through the dark windows, and I stared at it for another moment before jogging off after Yoh, hurrying away from the car.

()()()()()()()()()

Throughout the run, Manta kept running his mouth about Pailong. I liked the movies, but I didn't want to hear all about Pailong over and over again, so I let his voice drift into the background of the city noise and kept my eyes peeled for that black van. I had felt the presence of that doshi…

"Shaman fights are different from martial arts," Yoh pointed out once Manta let him speak, pulling me back to reality.

"That's true…" Manta muttered

Yoh stopped and looked back at Manta; I stopped a few feet ahead.

"Why do you want me to watch Pailong's movie so much?"

Manta stayed quiet for a long time. "Yoh-kun…I want Yoh-kun to know the things I like," he mumbled.

Yoh smiled. "I see."

Manta smiled as well.

I felt almost like I was intruding, but soon we were off again. Earlier, I had wanted to go looking for shamans, but after seeing that black van, I didn't want to leave Yoh and Manta alone, even though Yoh could defend them both.

()()()()()()()()()

Back at the house, we all sat in the living room; Anna watched the television while Yoh ate and Manta went on about Daodan Do, Lee Pailong's own kung fu style. I watched them converse, not entirely listening. Hearing Manta go on about Lee Pailong had me lost in a memory.

I glanced at my watch, not caring at all about the time. I hardly cared about anything at all. Nothing mattered until I came to be with the Patch again, when Lago came again. But that wouldn't be for years, and I already knew that it wasn't going to be in this lifetime, since I wasn't born in the Patch.

Before you get too confused, let me explain: I share similarities with Hao, one being that we both can control fire with our spirits. Another one was that we could both reincarnate, but he could pass freely between the world of the living and the dead by mere whim, while I would only be able to rest in peace once my debt was repaid, which would be never. My existence had no meaning but to serve; I hardly even felt feelings, something that was blamed upon a mental disorder that I never bothered to learn the name of. For the rest of time, I'd exist only in the physical world of the living.

Right now, however, I was supposed to be meeting Tai for lunch. My brother was ten years older than me, and was an actor - not a particularly successful one, but because he was a martial artist as well, he'd acquired a 'recurring' role as one of Lee Pailong's enemies' lackeys in the movies (Tai had also been good friends with Pailong, and had brought me with him to his job a few times to meet the famous Daodan Do artist). Though Pailong had been dead for almost three years, Tai didn't have a lot of time on his hands because of a new role, so when he did, he was sure to spend it with me, for some reason I knew out of theory but never really felt: sibling love. From what I could tell, he was overly protective of me because of my 'disability' and my muteness, but I never cared.

I looked across the busy intersection to the other side of the street. I blinked uninterestedly when I recognized Tai's short messy hair, waiting for me under the pedestrian traffic light, which conveniently turned green just then. I fixed my bag more comfortably over my shoulder and began to walk across the street, not caring if the multitude of people behind me were following-

"Maylin!"

Blinking-

"No. I won't give you money to watch movies."

Anna's words, along with Manta's and Yoh's groans of disbelief brought me out of my recollection.

"Any problems?" Anna asked darkly.

Immediately, Yoh went back to eating, and Manta went back to the topic of Daodan Do.

"What are you talking about?" Anna asked without looking at them. "Since he's weak, without realizing it he looks up to strong people."

Manta's face contorted with shock, but he said nothing.

"Admiration…" Anna continued. "It's something that gets stronger the more far-fetched it is."

Manta turned around and hid his face in his arms. I gave him a pat on the back as Yoh said, "If you get discouraged from just that, you won't be able to keep up…"

"Fat-fetched…" Manta repeated. "Yeah…Lee Pailong is definitely way beyond my level."

"Hm?"

"Seventeen years ago, before he completed Daodan Do, Pailong mysteriously disappeared," Manta explained quietly.

"He's dead?" Yoh asked.

I nodded, my mind swimming with a memory again.

"The body also disappeared during the funeral," Manta added. "It's still a mystery."

"A dead body…disappeared?" Anna asked.

Manta tried one last time to beg Anna to let Yoh see the movie. I silently urged him on, wanting to go as well. A movie was just what I needed to take my mind off of my memories.

Anna stood. "I'll go too."

Manta was speechless.

Anna half-turned around. "What?" she asked darkly.

"N-nothing!" Manta assured her.

"Shall we go, then?" Yoh asked with a smile.

Amidamaru appeared next to him. "I want to go, too!"

()()()()()()()()()()()

The movie theater was empty aside from us. On the screen, Lee Pailong was battling a score of enemies single-handedly, and was winning. At each punch, Yoh let out a breath of awe; beads of sweat were forming on his face as he clenched his fists. He was so enthralled that he wasn't even eating the popcorn, which was fine with me and Anna.

I swallowed a mouthful, then tensed slightly. Another shaman was in the area, and also the doshi… I forcibly relaxed myself and watched Lee Pailong battle on the screen. The movie wasn't completely helping my thoughts, but it was distracting enough.

I tried to keep from tensing when Tai appeared on the screen; he'd always played one of the thugs that Pailong had to battle. But in real life, they'd been quite good friends… I felt a pang of remorse.

When the movie was finally over, we walked out of the theater - I wished they had another showing of it, or another movie. Pailong's movies were the best, even if seeing Tai did make me feel sad.

Yoh stretched, smiling widely. "Lee Pailong is really great!" he declared.

"Isn't he?" Manta asked excitedly.

"Yeah, he was so cool!" Yoh agreed.

"Going into the enemy's base all by himself…" Manta added.

As one, us three struck the pose of Pailong in the scene, and I mouthed along with them. "'Don't make me laugh! Taste my fury!'" We broke into the Daodan Do poses Pailong used in the movie, and I did another breathy giggle. I'd never done a Pailong pose.

"Simpletons," Anna muttered, as if pretending not to know us.

"I was touched too," said Amidamaru. "This movie thing, it was the first time I've seen one, but it was truly great."

Nix appeared on my shoulder, yawning, and gave a rare input. "I've seen too many of Pailong's movies with Tori. I found it dull."

Yoh elbowed me. "You a fanatic, Tori?"

I scratched my head sheepishly and turned away, nodding, too embarrassed to realize what was coming.

Yoh laughed and started walking when I turned around, and he suddenly bumped into a figure, causing him to fall to the ground on his bottom.

"Yoh-kun!" Manta warned; Yoh looked up to see one of the creatures we had fought the other day. It was a…a…

"Kyonshii," Anna said as many others poured out from the alleyways, blocking our way.

Kyonshii! Of course. How could I have not remembered their name? Kyonshii were 'frozen corpses,' dead bodies controlled by a doshi. The only way to defeat them was to destroy the tags on their foreheads.

Yoh stood. "Stay away," he warned, going over to grab a pipe from the side of the street.

I walked up beside him and gave him a hard stare. I wasn't going to let him fight all of these kyonshii by himself. Even if he said no. 'Even if you don't like it,' I relayed to Nix.

Yoh looked at me, and then gave me a quick nod.

As the kyonshii jumped into the air to attack, both Yoh and I merged with our spirits at the same time.

One group jumped at Yoh, and he swiped at them with his pipe, causing them to turn to dust as their tags disintegrated.

Another group came towards me. Without a weapon, I had to rely on my speed to dodge attacks and swipe at their tags. After I managed to destroy one, I wished I could oversoul. Then this would be over in the blink of an eye. But that was against my rules.

I really needed to start carrying a weapon.

I turned around to fight another one, but saw that Yoh had already obliterated them. We both walked back to Anna and Manta.

"I think I'm getting pretty good," Yoh mused. "You're good too, Tori. I think you need a weapon, though."

I shrugged. Real weapons weren't my style; if I wasn't fighting with my hands, I was fighting with an oversoul. If I fought at all - which I happened to be doing more lately than I ever remembered doing in any one period of time. Again, I probably needed to start carrying a weapon, even if I wasn't used to them.

I saw Amidamaru exit Yoh's body, but Nix stayed put in mine - I sensed the doshi still before I heard it clap.

We turned around and saw a tall, slender figure standing just outside of the light cast by a streetlamp. "That was great, Asakura Yoh-kun. And Tori-kun."

When Yoh made a sound and look of confusion, the figure continued. "Not being able to hold you off with that many kyonshii…I apologize for underestimating you."

"Who are you?" Yoh asked, his eyes narrowed.

The figure stepped into the light, revealing itself to be a tall, graceful girl with green hair. "My name is Tao Jun."

Tao? Tao?As in relative of Ren? This could not be good.

"Tao?" Manta asked. "Then you…"

Jun bowed her head. "I am Ren's older sister."

"You're a shaman too?" Anna asked, her gaze cold.

"Yes… I am a doshi," Jun replied.

"Doshi?" Yoh repeated, confused.

"I think doshi are shamans who can control kyonshii with mere commands," Manta explained, unnerved. "With words written on a talisman, they can program kyonshii with commands."

"Yes," Jun agreed. "Doshi are a part of the shaman bloodline, which descended down amongst our mighty kingdom. I came here because I have a favor to ask of you," she continued to Yoh. "For my lovely little brother, Ren."

I thought many things about Ren, but none of them were even remotely close to 'lovely.' More like insane.

"Could I take your samurai, Amidamaru?" Jun asked. "And also, Ren has a question for Tori-kun," she added, almost as an afterthought.

"Even if you asked nicely, I wouldn't give you Amidamaru," Yoh answered. "And Tori's not going anywhere, are you, Tori?"

I shook my head in defiance.

I saw Jun tense slightly. "It would be to your advantage to give up your spirit, and the girl - Ren would return her soon enough, I'm sure. Neither would be hurt." She reached for the slit in her dress and pulled out two handfuls of talismans. "Now come out, my warrior… Lee Pailong!"

My breath caught in my throat as the ground exploded behind us and a bright light appeared. Out of it rose a greyish figure, but a familiar figure nonetheless. Pailong…

I wanted Nix to say Pailong's name. I wanted to scream it, but Nix wasn't allowing it.

Manta screamed as Pailong jumped into the air to land behind Jun. "You should fully understand his strength by now…" Jun said dangerously. "After that movie."

I didn't need to see a movie to know Pailong's strength. I knew it all too well, and I knew Pailong would never stand for this, would never stand to be a kyonshii. I thought of Tai, and how he knew Pailong wouldn't stand for this either.

"Lee Pailong is my main spirit," Jun explained. "The strongest of the Tao family's possessions. The ultimate corpse weapon!"

"Possession?" Manta repeated disbelievingly. "Weapon?"

"Before I let Pailong move, meet at least one of my demands," Jun commanded.

"No," Yoh answered immediately.

I hesitated before I walked forward. I couldn't fight Pailong. I couldn't defend myself against him. Even if he was a kyonshii, a corpse, something that couldn't physically feel pain, I couldn't bear to hurt him - even though I knew I could never touch him if I tried without oversoul. If he, under his talisman, knew who I was, I knew he couldn't bear to hurt me, either - he and Tai had been good friends, and he knew how much I had meant to my brother. But he didn't know.

"Tori! What are you doing?" Yoh asked, running forward to grab my arm.

I yanked my arm out of Yoh's grip without looking at him. I looked Jun in the eye. "What does Ren want?" I asked, not feeling the terrible rasp in my throat as Nix spoke for me.

Jun shrugged. "He never told me, but…" She snapped her fingers, and something suddenly grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into the air. I heard the others scream out after me, but a second later the creature that had held me threw me, and I landed, not on the ground, but on a flat rooftop. I felt Nix exit my body along with the air in my lungs, and I gasped.

Immediately, someone grabbed my shoulders and threw me against a wall, and I suddenly found a Kwan Dao at my neck.

"Hold it, Bason," Ren commanded, and I realized that his spirit must be grappling with Nix - though Bason had the upper hand with, well, hands, it would only be a matter of time before Nix broke free. But until then, I had to deal with Ren. Alone.

Though I was taller than him, Ren's yellow eyes made me feel tiny. He was close enough so that I could feel his breath on my face as he sneered at me. "Answer this, and I might justlet you live," he hissed. "How did you burn me?"

Even if Nix was still united with me, I couldn't answer that. I couldn't teach shamans, I was only supposed to watch them until-

Ren leaned in even closer, so that I could see the flecks of a slightly different shade of gold in his eyes. His nose was probably just an inch from mine. "Speak up!"

I had to think quickly. Ren wouldn't give me forever to answer, and in the exact second that Nix would unite with me, he'd decapitate me. But it was hard to think with the blood pounding in my ears, my heart beating at my chest as my body chanted at me to run, run, run. If I tried to fight, he'd just cut me up into a dozen pieces. Even a kneeing below the belt might just make him angrier. I had to startle him somehow, I had to get the Kwan Dao away from my neck.

"What? Can't you friggin' speak?" he spat, everything about him absolutely livid.

Watching him speak sparked an idea in my mind, an idea even more terrifying than the fact that there was a weapon at my throat, for if I failed, my death would be impossible to escape. Before I could think twice (for I would definitely dismiss the idea as more insane than a person in solitary confinement in the world's worst asylum), I darted my face forward and just barely pecked his lips with my own.

Ren jumped backwards, stumbling and falling onto his behind. He was sputtering incoherently, but I didn't take the time to look at him as I hurried toward the two clashing spirits and reached forward, pulling Nix out of the fray in his spirit ball form, merging with him quickly.

Suddenly, the kyonshii that had grabbed me before appeared, and I snatched its talisman off of its forehead, wanting nothing more than to get the hell out of there.

Once he saw that I was free, Bason hurried over to his master, and I didn't stick around to see what happened. Without a backward glance at Ren, I jumped off the side of the building and onto the street below.

What I saw made me freeze. Yoh was lying on the ground, Manta standing over him, tears swimming in his eyes. "Even if he's dead, Lee Pailong is still Lee Pailong!"

Anna walked up behind him, glaring at Jun. "Lee Pailong is not at fault here. Even if it's his own body, he's still a kyonshii. The fact that he's being manipulated doesn't change anything. That's why the bad one is the girl manipulating him."

"Then… then Pailong is…ignoring his own will," Manta whimpered.

"A shaman is someone who controls spirits," Jun explained. "The spirit's will is meaningless."

"Pailong's will is not meaningless!" I screeched through Nix, not even registering my surprise that he wasn't keeping me quiet as I dashed toward Jun.

Jun flicked out a talisman that attached to Pailong's head, and he jumped in my way and punched me aside. I rolled across the pavement back behind Manta, parts of my skin ripping open. I lied on my side, breathing heavily as I watched Pailong, who was standing still.

Tai wouldn't stand for this. If he saw what was happening right now, he'd be at Pailong's throat. But Tai wasn't here… neither was Maylin.

"In the Tao family, to become a great shaman," Jun continued as if I hadn't interrupted, "we receive our main spirits when we are children. Ever since I was born, seventeen years ago, Lee Pailong has been under my command."

"Seventeen years…" Manta breathed.

I closed my eyes, feeling despair rising inside me as I remembered Tai's confusion and sadness at Pailong's sudden death, and I wished that I had felt something, tried to comfort him somehow…

I opened my eyes to see Jun smirk. "Lee Pailong is the best present given to me by my father."

Manta fell onto his hands and knees, but I couldn't pity him. He didn't know how I was feeling; Manta was a fan. I knew Pailong, but not as well as Tai had…

'Pailong!' I mentally screeched to him, focusing solely on him so that only he could hear me. 'Pailong!'

If Pailong heard me, he gave no sign that he did.

I shook myself on the inside. He knew Maylin, not me.

"The Pailong I used to admire…was killed for this," Manta cried softly. "I can't believe this."

"You're so stupid for crying," Jun observed. "No matter how much emotion you show, kyonshii don't have feelings."

"That's not true!"

I stiffened as I heard Yoh's voice, but I was feeling too terrible to look up.

"Spirit's aren't things!" Yoh continued. "It's the feeling itself. There is no spirit without feelings!"

I heard Manta and Yoh converse softly, and then heard Yoh chuckle. How could he laugh now, when he was so hurt…?

"Impossible!" Jun shouted. "There shouldn't be anyone who can take Lee Pailong's attacks and still stand!"

"Of course it hurt," Yoh said, nearly hissing. I heard his feet scuff the pavement as he stood. "Even so, to me and Amidamaru, attacks with any hesitation won't work!"

Hesitation? Pailong was…hesitating?

"No matter how much you may control his body with the talisman," Yoh continued, "you can't control Pailong's heart! Isn't that right, Lee Pailong?"

As I stared at Pailong's face, a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Impossible!" Jun scoffed angrily. "For a corpse to have feelings!" She broke off and turned towards Yoh, and I could tell thoughts were turning in her head.

She stiffened. "That cannot be! Pailong! He's not dead yet; hurry up and finish him!"

Pailong didn't move.

"What are you doing!" Jun demanded. "Well?"

Pailong twitched, and he struggled to move his arm toward his nunchaku. Could he… I sat up, my head pounding, and watched.

Suddenly, Pailong jumped forward, bridging the gap between him and Yoh in almost an instant, wrapping the chain of his weapon around one of Yoh's arms.

"I'll pull that talisman off!" Yoh declared. "I'll set you free, Pailong!"

"It's impossible to win against Lee Pailong," Jun chastised. "Don't you get that by now?"

"Of course I don't!" Yoh stood his ground. "I'll try until the very end!"

Yoh grunted and jumped into the air, but Pailong kneed him in the stomach, sending him flying back to land on his back before us.

Jun walked forward. "That's why I said it was impossible. To my Lee Pailong, an attack in that range in definite. Pailong, kill him."

Again, Pailong didn't move.

"Pailong!" Jun commanded.

Stiffly, Pailong walked forward and began attempting to whack Yoh with his nunchaku, but Yoh weakly managed to block the attacks with his pipe.

"Anna-san, we have to help Yoh!" Manta pleaded. He turned to me. "Tori-kun!"

As much as I wanted to help Yoh, as much as I knew I could stop this in an instant with my oversoul, I couldn't do it. Not to Pailong; he reminded me too much of Tai. I hung my head. This was exactly why I couldn't get too attached.

"I was never planning to help him," Anna said simply. "This is just another trial Yoh has to face before becoming Shaman King. If he loses to an opponent like this, he can never become the Shaman King."

I was barely listening.

"I don't want to become the wife of a man who doesn't even have a chance of success in the future," Anna finished.

"What kind of woman are you!" Manta accused, taken aback by the both of us.

"Shut up!" Anna commanded. "Women are realistic. Even so…I think Yoh can be the Shaman King. That's why I'm here."

Yoh suddenly cried out in pain, falling down onto the ground. Amidamaru floated beside Yoh.

"I'm sorry, Yoh-dono. If we only had something like a real katana, I might be able to do something."

"Something like a katana…?" Yoh grunted through the pain.

"If I had a katana with a grip handle, I could destroy his defense and attack him outside of his range, and destroy that talisman," Amidamaru explained.

"From outside his range?" Yoh repeated.

Suddenly, Jun and Pailong were standing in front of us. "You are a shameful samurai for blaming your lack of skill on a katana," Jun reprimanded. She turned to Manta. "If you don't want to get involved, get out of here."

Manta backed up. "Y-you're serious?" I saw him shaking with fear as he stared at her, and suddenly he turned and fled, screaming.

"Manta!" Yoh called.

"He's a smart friend," Jun observed. She narrowed her eyes. "I can't play around with you anymore." She pulled out another talisman. "I'll finish this now."

*Note: Ren wants to know how Tori burned him so he can do it, too, as an advantage in battle, if that was unclear, which it probably was.