Disclaimer: Shaman King belongs to Hiroyuki Takei and Shonen Jump, not me.

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Jun swung her short legs back and forth. Her parents didn't like her to fidget at the table, especially when guests were there. And they seemed to discussing something very important, something about her.

". . . a jiang-shi could be potentially dangerous," one of the guests, an old man with sharp gray eyes, said.

"I have a jiang-shi!" Jun piped up. Then she clapped a tiny hand over her mouth. Her parents would be furious. She knew quite well that she wasn't to speak without being addressed first.

But her mother, although her eyes were stormy, nodded at her to continue. "Tell him about your jiang-shi, Jun," she said.

Jun wriggled in her chair, trying to see over the tabletop. "His name is Lee Bailong, and he is the master of Dao Dan Do," she explained. "He's quite big."

"A big jiang-shi, eh?" the old man repeated. "How long have you been a dao-shi, Miss Tao?"

"Since I was very small," Jun said gravely. "Bailong was a present for me on my name-day."

"It has been a long time," the old man said. "And does Lian have a jiang-shi?"

"Lian has his own ghost," Jun explained. "His name is Ma-sun."

"I see," the old man said. He turned to Jun's parents. "Have you considered sending her away to school?" he asked them. "There is a school in England that I think she could benefit from. They cater especially to children of this nature. It's small, and select. I'm sure. . ."

By this time, Jun's short attention span had kicked in. She slipped under the table and crawled out of the dining room, unnoticed.

The nightlight was turned on in her brother's room. One-year-old Lian was standing up in his crib. "Jun!" he cried, reaching for her. Jun yanked down the bar on the crib and picked him up.

"They want me to go away, Lian," she whispered in the baby's ear. "They want me to go away for ever and ever, until I'm really old. As old as Kaa'san."

Lian, if he didn't understand her words, understood his sister's tone. His chin trembled.

"Oh!" Jun exclaimed, hugging him till he squeaked in protest. "I didn't mean to make you cry!" She plunked down on the floor with Lian in her lap. The little boy yawned hugely. He curled up against her and fell asleep.

The next morning they took Jun away.

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Author's Notes

Jun is ridiculously precocious.