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

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No one was quite sure what to make of her. She spent most of her time in an obstinate silence, her little arms crossed over her chest and her eyes boring into whoever was stupid enough to make eye contact with the miniscule rebel. Before a week had passed, the whole school was in a state of wary terror over the tiny girl with her giant guardian. As a result, Jun was allowed to run wild through the school, doing whatever she pleased. She learned little at her first year at school.

Then he came.

He was a tall man, though not as tall as her Bailong. His eyes were a deep murky gray blue color, as unreadable as an autumn evening's sky. He'd been warned about the toddling terror who ran the school. But he wasn't to be fooled.

It began the very first day he was teaching, when he called roll. "Kirke, Digory. Pevensie, Lucy. Plummer, Polly. Pole, Jill. Scrubb, Eustace C. Tao, Jun." He looked up. "Which one of you is Jun Tao?" he asked.

The tiny girl in the back row poked her guardian spirit and Bailong obediently raised his hand.

"Can't you raise your own hand, Jun?" he smiled.

"No. And call me Miss Tao," she said arrogantly.

"But I call all of the other students by their first names," he said.

"But I am not like all of the other students," little Jun countered. "I am a dao-shi."

"You may be a dao-shi, Miss Jun, but right now you are a history student like the rest of the class," he said.

Jun crossed her arms, slunk in her seat, and muttered something in Japanese. He turned around. "I would like to see you after class, Miss Jun," he said to her in Japanese. Her pert mouth opened and closed several times in shock, but she remained silent, if not obedient, for the rest of the class.

When the bell in the bell tower tolled, the rest of the class filed out of the room, leaving Jun, Bailong, and the teacher alone. He beckoned to her. "Come here," he said.

Jun glared at him, but made her way to his desk, her guardian ghost right behind her. The man held out one of his cold, pale hands. "Why are you angry, Miss Tao?" he asked.

"I want to go home," she said. "I do not like it here."

"Why not?" he asked her, running his rigid fingers through her long, silky hair.

Jun jerked away. "I do not like that!" she objected. "Bailong, make him stop!"

Bailong moved to attack, but a talisman flew through the air and snapped in his face, stopping him in his tracks. The man smiled. "You cannot write new spells yet, can you?" he asked.

Jun paled. "Not yet," she said. Fear gnawed at her.

The man slapped her across the face, leaving a red mark on her round cheek. "I have been instructed by your parents to teach you compliance," he said in Japanese, his voice tight and clipped. "I will watch you. And you will learn to obey."

Jun fell to her knees, tears rising in her eyes. Another stinging slap shook several teardrops. "Do not cry, like a helpless child. I have been instructed to guard you, so that you may serve the great Shaman King, your brother," he said. "Away from me. But I will take your guardian ghost. From now on, I am your guardian." His nostrils flared. "Answer, child!"

"Hai," she whispered.

"Call me master," he ordered.

"Hai, master," she said.

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