Frozen in Time
A Shaman King Story
Written by Satine89
If, on any given day, Manta was actually spending some time with Yoh, freed from the demoness from heck formerly known as Anna, it was a good day. And today was one such day. Leaning his face down on a desk at Shinra Private Junior High was Yoh Asakura. His black hair was falling into his face, masking his amber-like eyes. His uniform shirt, par usual, was unbuttoned, like most every guy's. Clinging to his chest was a bear-talon necklace, and above his ears was a pair of headphones.
Manta Oyamada sat in a chair near Yoh's desk. Manta was a bookish type, always shoving his nose into a huge dictionary that he carried around everywhere. His golden blonde hair was swaying gently in a slight breeze poking through the opened classroom window. His uniform, in great contrast to Yoh's, was buttoned, tucked in, and ironed. Manta was a great deal shorter than Yoh, but since they both were sitting, no one was the wiser.
There was something different, however, about both Manta and Yoh. Yoh was a shaman, a person who could communicate with ghosts and use a ghost's powers as his own. Manta could see ghosts, but couldn't use their powers in the same way Yoh could.
"Thank God…" Yoh moaned. It was the first time he had sat in a chair in class for a good five days. That was Anna's doing.
"She won't have a chance to slap me today," Manta smiled. Anna also smacked Manta with embarrassing regularity.
"I guess so…" Yoh was crying, he was so happy. "I say after school we go for shaved ice."
"Sounds good," Manta said. "But after that it's study club."
"Gotcha."
Suddenly their teacher entered. He was a middle-aged man with a stubby mustache and hair that reached the halfway point of his neck. He looked the part of a lazy good-for-nothing. Behind him was a girl with cropped brown hair. Her hair fell down in a large piece on the left side of her face. On the right side, her hair was tucked behind her ear. Her school uniform had to be buttoned, whether she liked it or not, and a small tie rested in the collar. Her uniform was long sleeved, and her pleated skirt was olive green. Reaching her knees were black button-down boots. Her green eyes flittered confidently across the room.
"Class, we have a transfer student from the Minato district of Tokyo. Her name is Kimaguire Okono."
Kimaguire smiled. "How do you do?"
The guys in the class were pretty much stunned by her good looks. She didn't seem to notice as she took a seat near Manta. Yoh looked at him from across the row. Manta looked sort of sweaty.
Yoh felt a bit sweaty, too. Kimaguire was beautiful and Yoh already was feeling the nauseating sensation of a crush. This wasn't going to turn out well, though, for he was engaged to marry Anna Kyôyama.
Anna was easily the foulest person in class, a sassy chick with blonde-brown hair that made the guys fall on themselves. She had come to Funbari Hill, where Shinra Private Junior High was located; searching for Yoh after her parents had arranged Yoh's marriage to Anna. Yoh hated her guts. Anna hated Manta. Manta thought Anna was rude. Glad we're clear on that.
Kimaguire was a very attentive listener throughout class, despite the fact that Manta saw at least ten guys slip notes to her. She never read any of them… until the bell rang and there was a free period.
"Ha… sure you do… I can't even read this…" Kimaguire was whispering to herself when Yoh thudded his head onto his desk and Manta pulled up a chair. Kimaguire suddenly alerted herself of their presence nearby. Kimaguire walked over and pulled up a seat.
"Hey," Kimaguire said.
"Hey," Yoh replied. He was trying to read Manta's notes on English sentence structure. His nose was dangerously close to the paper.
"Why are you so close to the paper?" Kimaguire inquired. She looked over Yoh's shoulder, accidentally brushing her arm against his back. He began to sweat.
"Um… er…" Yoh was at a loss. Manta could tell.
"Why are you sitting in a chair?" A cold, hard drawling voice was directly behind Yoh, Kimaguire and Manta. Manta and Yoh knew that voice instantly and became stiff. Kimaguire was a bit clueless until she turned around.
"Oh, hi," Kimaguire beamed. Her happiness was a bit contagious, as Manta and Yoh felt a bit better about Anna's uninvited presence.
Anna looked at Kimaguire with intense interest. "Who are you?"
"Didn't you have a fever?" Yoh asked. Anna turned from Kimaguire to Yoh.
"Stow it," Anna glared. "Get off the chair. You know the drill."
"What's up with you?" Kimaguire scoffed. "Talk about Ice Queen."
Anna raised an eyebrow. "Who are you, anyway? You never answered."
"Kimaguire Okono, age thirteen," Kimaguire stated. "And you are?"
"Anna Kyôyama, thirteen as well," Anna responded. "New to class?"
"Um, yes…" Kimaguire admitted. Yoh was getting worried for Kimaguire's safety. No one had ever had a conversation with Anna without being slapped, kicked, or bullied. If that didn't happen, usually a ghost got shoved into their system. Yoh knew only too well.
"I'll show you around," Anna offered. Kimaguire was suspicious, but she followed Anna anyway. As they left the classroom, Yoh slammed his head down on the desk.
"She's got a death wish," Yoh moaned. Manta looked equally pallid.
"If Kimaguire comes back unscathed, I'll pay for the shaved ices."
-!
"This is the cleanest bathroom in school. The only disadvantage is that the left-hand sink sprays water everywhere," Anna explained. Kimaguire smiled.
"I tweaked my old school's faculty faucet so it would do that. Never caught me," Kimaguire confessed. Anna looked intrigued.
"You know, everyone is scared of me," Anna clarified. "They call me all this crazy crap – a demoness, a psychopath, the scourge of God…"
"You mean…" Kimaguire sobbed. "You don't have any friends?"
Anna was a bit shocked by Kimaguire's up-front nature, but she looked concerned. No one had ever looked concerned about her, Anna Kyôyama.
"No," Anna said. "I kind of like it that way. I have acquaintances…" Kimaguire thought immediately of Yoh and Manta.
"Well, I've never had any friends either," Kimaguire added.
Anna was shaken. How could such a pleasant, happy girl have never had any friends? She wasn't cold, or manipulative, and she was definitely not a nerd.
"What about all those guys?" Anna asked incredulously.
"Gold diggers," Kimaguire said coolly. "None of them would want me if they knew the real me."
The bell rang and Kimaguire headed off to class. Anna followed her.
"The real you…?" Anna scrutinized.
Kimaguire turned around just before she walked into the classroom. "It's why I never had any friends. It's why all my boyfriends dumped me. And it's why I moved here."
Anna watched Kimaguire as she walked into class. Anna followed, sitting down in her desk. She noticed something.
"Yoh, get rid of the chair. Now."
-?
"The real you…" Anna mumbled as she walked to the shaved ice place with Yoh and Manta.
"Hey, Manta, it's your treat," Yoh smirked. Manta sighed.
"I can't believe it," Manta kept muttering under his breath.
"What could she have meant…?" Anna mused. Manta perked up.
"What d'ya mean?" Manta asked. Anna slapped Manta.
"Zip it, shrimp," Anna said, cold as ice again. They stood in front of the shaved ice store, waiting in the line for about five minutes. Once they finally got to the front of the line, a happy girl wearing an apron with brown, cropped hair happily waited on them.
"What can I get you…?"
Anna gasped. "Kimaguire?"
Kimaguire smiled. "My caretaker lives above this store. So what can I get ya?"
"Oh don't ask me, Manta's ordering," Anna sneered. Manta sighed again.
"One melon ice, one strawberry ice, and… er, Yoh, what do you want?"
"Two pink lemonade ices," Yoh said.
"All right, your total comes to 6.75," Kimaguire stated. Manta forked over some money, and Kimaguire went behind the counter to get the shaved ices.
"Isn't the place above this that burned-out Chinese restaurant?" Yoh pondered aloud.
"Maybe she's with Wooden Sword Ryu and his gang," Manta thought.
"No, they live somewhere near us…" Anna corrected.
"That's weird…" Yoh cocked his head. "Who lives in that Chinese restaurant?"
"Here ya go!" Kimaguire held out the tray with the four shaved ices. "Have a nice day!"
Anna, Manta, and Yoh sat down at a table far away from prying eyes. Yoh put a portable memorial tablet on the surface and pushed one of the pink lemonade ices in front of it. The line had disappeared and Kimaguire looked around at the customers. She quickly eyed Yoh in the secluded corner, sticking a spoon straight into one of the lemon ices.
"Here you go," Yoh whispered to the tablet.
Out of the tablet popped a ghost. He was dressed like a samurai, with blonde hair poking out of a messy short ponytail. His eyes were cold, and his outfit was completely frayed.
"Thank you for the shaved ice, Lord Yoh," the ghost said thoughtfully.
"Anytime, Amidamaru," Yoh smiled and dug into his own ice.
Kimaguire turned away and walked upstairs to the burnt-out Chinese restaurant. A pretty teenager sat on a chair near the corner, fiddling with some beaded necklaces. Her short green hair had been done up in chopsticks today, and her long evening-gown-like Chinese dress was shining in the beautiful sunshine. He was looking directly at Kimaguire.
"Kimaguire, what's up?" the girl said. Kimaguire looked completely shell-shocked.
"Tao Jun…" Kimaguire gulped. "There's this guy downstairs… with a spirit partner…"
Tao Jun smiled. "Why does this surprise you, Kimaguire? You've seen ghosts before. You even have one of your own."
"It's not the ghost that scares me…" Kimaguire was breathing heavily. "It's who has the ghost…"
"I see," Tao Jun admitted. She knew exactly how it felt to find out something like that. She wasn't going to involve herself, however.
"If you want a break, you can have one," Tao Jun offered. Kimaguire unpinned her nametag and took of the apron.
"Thanks," Kimaguire said. "It's the end of my shift, anyway."
Tao Jun looked out the window. The sun was brilliantly shining outside, and as she looked down, she saw Yoh, Anna and Manta leave the shaved ice shop.
"Beautiful day," Tao Jun commented, but she realized whose ghost Kimaguire had seen.
...
"Ugh, I can't take it!" Yoh yelled. Anna jumped a few feet, and Manta fell over.
"What's got you so worked up?" Manta asked.
"Who lives above the shaved ice shop?!" Yoh cried. Anna heaved a great sigh.
"Still stuck on that?" Anna looked coolly at both Manta and Yoh. "It makes no difference, really."
"I have a feeling," Amidamaru said. He was floating over a low kotatsu at the moment. "Maybe it's just me, but this girl… Kimaguire… she seems very in tune with the spiritual plane from my standpoint."
"Get over it," Manta dismissed the theory. Anna thought of something.
"The real you…" Anna breathed. What if Kimaguire was a shaman, like Yoh?
Yeah right, Anna thought. She's probably got some ESP or something along those lines. She was probably a shrine priestess before she moved there.
"Well, I still think who lives in the Chinese restaurant is insignificant," Anna scowled. Yoh banged his head on the kotatsu.
"It's killing me!" Yoh moaned. All of a sudden Wooden Sword Ryu popped out of nowhere. He had black hair that used to be in the form of a very long pompadour, but it was cut off. He wore a white polyester suit and shiny shoes.
"That Chinese restaurant is cursed!" Ryu warned. Anna jumped backwards.
"Where'd you come from?!" Anna cried.
"I lost my ultra-pompadour for the second time in that place…" Ryu began to sob. "It's too much!"
Anna looked strangely at Ryu. "Well, the place is cursed," he moped.
"Her caretaker is probably the lady who used to own the shaved ice shop," Manta offered.
Ryu snapped to attention. "Whose caretaker?"
"Kimaguire Okono," Yoh said. "She's really pretty and she escaped Anna unscathed."
Anna kicked Yoh. "Why I…"
"Pretty?" Ryu said. He got stars in his eyes. "I'm gonna go find this Kimaguire girl!"
"Wait Ryu -!" Yoh's desperate attempts of gathering Ryu's attention failed abysmally. Ryu ran out the door and off to find Kimaguire.
"You had to say she was pretty," Anna scoffed. Yoh banged his fists on the table.
"Why is this bugging me so much?" Yoh yelled. He slipped his legs under the kotatsu and pulled a pillow off the nearby couch. "Goodnight."
"Lazy idiot," Anna muttered.
!!
"Ren, where were you?" Tao Jun sternly asked a boy of about Manta's height and age. He had black pointed hair, cold yellow eyes and a slim frame. In his hand was a trunk.
"Cram school, remember?" Ren snapped. He dropped the trunk onto the floor and sat in a chair. Kimaguire turned around from a tapestry she was trying to hang up again. She had knocked it over the other day.
"Hey, Ren," Kimaguire smiled. Ren smiled back.
"Hello, Kimaguire," Ren replied. "Anything interesting today?"
"Well, I found out this guy in my class is a shaman, and it really scared me!" Kimaguire went a bit pink. "I thought I was the only psycho at Shinra."
"No," Ren grinned wickedly. "No, I don't think you are."
"Kimaguire, what are you doing?" Tao Jun asked. Kimaguire was still trying to hang the tapestry up.
"I knocked this tapestry over yesterday," Kimaguire smiled through a mouthful of decorative tacks. "Just hanging it up again." Kimaguire took a tack from her mouth and hammered it in the wall.
Suddenly a huge bang echoed from the nearby door. Kimaguire fell over. Tao Jun immediately darted over to an oblong coffin. Ren looked at his terrified sister and then a shaken Kimaguire. He sighed and opened the door.
"What are you doing here?" Ren sneered to Ryu. Ryu looked inside, but Ren flipped open the trunk nearby and snapped a large spear together in less than three seconds. The spear blocked Ryu's view completely.
"Um… can I see Kimaguire?" Ryu asked hopefully. Ren scowled.
"What do you want with her?" Ren barked. The spear was still dangerously close.
"Ren," Kimaguire instructed. Ren dropped the spear. He was emotionally attached to his sister's charge, as it were. And as so, he obeyed Kimaguire's wishes.
"I don't think I know you…" Kimaguire admitted.
"You know Yoh, right?" Ryu smiled. He thought Kimaguire was more than pretty – she was gorgeous.
"Yoh?" Ren and Kimaguire said simultaneously. Ren glared at the floor and Kimaguire went a bit pink.
"Yes," Kimaguire replied. "I know him…"
"What are you doing?" Ren barked at Kimaguire. Kimaguire backed up.
"It's impolite to thrust a spear in front of someone's face," Kimaguire smiled mockingly. Ren went red and picked the spear up and shoved it at Ryu.
"I don't know why you're here, but I want you to leave," Ren instructed. Kimaguire looked at Ren with angry murderous intent, but Ren still insisted on making Ryu leave.
"I'm sorry," Kimaguire apologized for Ren. "Perhaps I'll see you again."
Ryu grinned. "Okay." Ryu left and shut the door behind him.
"How rude can you be, Ren?" Kimaguire yelled.
"There's something about that guy that creeps me out," Ren said in his defense.
"When he said Yoh's name, you went all rigid! What's up with that?"
"Nothing," Ren responded. "It's nothing."
"Are you sure it's nothing?" Kimaguire asked haughtily. "You were pretty stiff."
"I'm sure it's nothing, Kimaguire," Ren said.
Tao Jun knew better. Ren was still smarting from his defeat at the hands of Yoh Asakura and his samurai ghost Amidamaru. Tao Jun knew that Yoh was an extraordinary shaman, for she had battled him herself, but Ren was determined to get Amidamaru for his own. Tao Jun was now a bit frightened about what Ren might do if Kimaguire overheard the truth.
...?
Kimaguire was the envy of every girl in Shinra Private Junior High by the end of the week. All the girls found her beauty unparalleled and constantly went to her for tips on makeup and hair care. The single guys were constantly trying to garner Kimaguire's attention, so her notebook would have a different note in it every period.
The only people who respected Kimaguire as equals were Yoh Asakura, Manta Oyamada, and Anna Kyôyama. Kimaguire always hung out with them during free periods, came over to Yoh's for study club, and even ditched a spot at the super-exclusive popular table to be with their group.
Of course, the rest of the school viewed Anna as an ice queen, Manta as the biggest nerd ever, and Yoh as a secluded nut job. But Kimaguire didn't care.
Anna still wondered about 'the real Kimaguire' one Friday morning. Anna and Kimaguire were walking to school together when Kimaguire ducked into an alley.
"Anna, I have to show you something," Kimaguire explained. Anna nodded and watched.
Kimaguire stuck her hand down one of her black boots and pulled out a memorial tablet. Anna gasped. She was a shaman.
"Arukamisu!" Kimaguire yelled, holding the memorial tablet before her. The memorial tablet resonated with a white light and the ghost of a woman appeared before Anna.
The woman wore a black cap with a veil in place of a brim. Her hair was dusty blonde-brown, and she wore a priestess' top. It was light gray with red lining and a black bow on the top of the collar where the edges met and a black sash around the waist. Underneath was a black camisole with crisscrossed straps and a set of normal straps next to it. She wore a black necklace with a small black prayer bead. Her skirt was red and her heels were black. In her hand was a large sword with a jade handle.
"So, you are a shaman," Anna said. She pressed her thumb against her lips. "Well, I have some secrets of my own."
"I saw the samurai ghost," Kimaguire cried. "At the shaved ice shop."
"Well, that's not mine; that's Yoh's," Anna corrected. "I'm an Itako – a channeler of sorts."
Anna pulled out some prayer beads from her book bag and showed Kimaguire.
"Prayer beads…?" Kimaguire realized something. "So… you can summon ghosts from the afterlife, Yoh is like me, and Manta…"
"Manta can see ghosts," Anna admitted. "But he can't use them." Anna turned serious. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Like I said earlier," Kimaguire noted, "I lost all my friends after I exorcised a demon out of one of them last year. My boyfriends all dumped me when they saw Arukamisu. I came here to train... and to leave all of that behind."
Kimaguire set off for school again, and Anna followed him.
"Anna, could you not tell anybody about this?" Kimaguire asked. "Especially not Yoh."
"Why not Yoh?" Anna inquired. "He'd help you out."
"Because I…" Kimaguire became a bit pink. "I… he just can't know, okay?"
Anna looked at Kimaguire hard. Her eyes were a bit glassy, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Could she like Yoh…? Anna thought as they walked into the classroom, Arukamisu tucked away into the memorial tablet in Kimaguire's boot.
Ren snickered from his hiding spot in the alley.
"That samurai ghost will be mine…" Ren grinned malevolently. "As will Kimaguire."
?!
"I get a chair today…" Yoh smiled happily and slowly sank into the chair. "Bliss."
"It's a chair, numbnuts," Anna scowled. "Get over it."
"He hasn't seen a chair in over a week," Manta retorted. Anna slapped him.
"C'mon you two!" Kimaguire said desperately. The class bell had just rung and everyone was taking his or her seats for algebra.
Kimaguire silently took out her notes for algebra, ignoring the three notes that already had sailed into her book bag. She listened attentively to the teacher until…
A huge crash rattled the classroom. Yoh's hand strayed to his pocket, where Amidamaru was hidden. Manta grabbed his dictionary, pretending to look something up, but really getting ready for an attack. Anna reached for the prayer beads in her backpack. Kimaguire rubbed her ankle discreetly, making sure that Arukamisu was still there.
But oddly enough, the class was still going. Yoh, Anna, Manta, and Kimaguire were the only ones who felt the crash. Kimaguire looked behind her in just enough time.
She could have sworn that Ren was sitting in the back of class, his kwan dao leaning against the wall. On his face was a wicked smile. Kimaguire looked at Anna, her face clearly asking if she'd seen anything. Anna shrugged, then looked to the exact spot where Ren had been just moments before. He was gone.
Kimaguire gasped. If Ren really had been there, something was up. Either that or it was just Kimaguire's overactive imagination.
...!
Kimaguire walked alone to her house that day. Anna said something about Yoh's special intensive training program, and Manta left before Anna had the chance to slap him again.
As she walked, she felt a strange breeze play behind her. She whipped around and saw Ren.
"Ren!" Kimaguire gasped. "What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to ask you something…" Ren smiled, the spear in his hands.
"Yes?" Kimaguire inquired. A note flittered out of her notebook. "Oh, wait, sorry…"
Kimaguire looked at the note.
Strange as it may seem,
I really do love you
Always and forever
Kimaguire read the signature line of the note. Her voice caught in her throat as thousand-year-old Chinese magic worked its spells upon the girl. Kimaguire felt her face blush bright red.
"Ren… it's beautiful…" Kimaguire threw her arms around Ren. Ren smiled slyly.
"Kimaguire," Ren asked calmly, "there's something I want you to do for me."
"Anything for you," Kimaguire breathed. Ren knew then that the magic had worked, and that the cursed paper had done the trick.
"Remember Yoh Asakura?" Ren inquired.
"Yes," Kimaguire replied.
"I need his ghost… the samurai," Ren requested.
"All right, leave it to me," Kimaguire said airily. She pulled the memorial tablet out of her boot and summoned Arukamisu.
She turned Arukamisu into a spirit flame. A spirit flame looked like a fireball with a face. Spirit Flame Arukamisu floated near Kimaguire's hand, and Kimaguire pushed the flame close to her body.
"INTEGRATE!" Kimaguire yelled, and within seconds the spirit flame had submerged itself into Kimaguire. Kimaguire now reached down the other boot and pulled out a sword. It was similar to Arukamisu's, with a jade handle, but a bit shorter.
Kimaguire turned to Ren and smiled malevolently. "I'll get that samurai ghost for you, Ren. Don't worry!"
!
Yoh was asleep, legs under the kotatsu, when the doorbell rang. Yoh slept right through it, but Anna heard the sound. She took one look at Yoh. He was beginning to drool. She heaved a sigh and opened the door.
Possessed Kimaguire was waiting for Anna. She stuck the sword adjacent to Anna's heart.
"Where is the samurai ghost?" Kimaguire barked. Anna's first impulse was to laugh, thinking it might have been just a stupid gag, but that definitely wasn't a joke. Her eyes widened.
There was something definitely wrong with Kimaguire. Her eyes, normally a light green, were deep black. Resonating around her was very strong spirit energy. Anna tried to back up, but a kwan dao stopped her straight in its path.
"Kwan dao?" Anna gasped. Only one person she knew of had a spear like that. And he was a major slime…
"Now, where is the ghost?" Kimaguire asked again. Anna looked behind her. If she took one step backward, to reach for her prayer beads and exorcise the demon inside Kimaguire, her feet got chopped off. If she moved closer, the sword was pierced into her heart.
"Kimaguire, what are you doing?" Anna whimpered. Kimaguire showed no response to Anna's remorseful tone.
"I don't want to kill more people than I have to," Kimaguire stated coldly. "But maybe he would be pleased with your body as well…"
Anna jumped out of the way of both the halberd and the sword. She avoided Kimaguire's wild swing with the halberd and grabbed the prayer beads off the ground.
Anna tried to get the beads around Kimaguire, but she was wicked fast. Kimaguire jumped on the wall, pushing off to avoid Anna.
"I don't want to fight you, Anna," Kimaguire cried. "I'm supposed to incapacitate Yoh and take his ghost. But you're in my way!"
Yoh began to stir from under the kotatsu. His legs were warm. He smiled then heard a rattling crash, then a scream.
Anna was kneeling down on the carpet. Her arm displayed a large gash. It was shallow, but it bled moderately. Anna was breathing heavily as Kimaguire placed the kwan dao at Anna's neck.
"Cockroaches die hard," Kimaguire scowled. "But die you must."
Anna looked up, frightened and in obvious pain, but she couldn't keep her mouth shut. "That line's been used before."
Just as Kimaguire screamed in anger, Yoh dashed into the room and stopped abruptly.
"Stop!" Yoh yelled. Kimaguire turned her head slowly.
"What a coincidence… just the person I wanted to see," Kimaguire sneered malevolently. "Hand over your samurai… and I might not hurt you."
Yoh frowned. "You aren't Kimaguire."
"Oh really?" Kimaguire smiled viciously. "How can you be so sure?"
"You're possessed… you have to be," Yoh mumbled.
"Who said that?" Kimaguire walked towards Yoh. "So you thought that you were safe from Ren. You should have known…" Kimaguire snickered. "My love would come for you. And he will."
Anna fell backward. "Your love?!"
Manta appeared from the corner of the room. "I think I know who lives in the Chinese restaurant…"
Kimaguire was still focused on Yoh. "Give it to me, Yoh."
Yoh was adamant. "I'm not gonna hand over Amidamaru. Sorry."
"All right then…" Kimaguire raised her sword and dropped the halberd on the ground. "If you won't give him to me, I'll take him by force!"
Kimaguire jumped downward, swinging her blade down forcefully. Yoh jumped away just in time.
"INTEGRATE!" Yoh yelled, flipping his memorial tablet around. Amidamaru shoved himself inside Yoh's body, and Yoh went stiff. Then he grabbed a sword off the kotatsu, holding it to his side.
"I don't understand what you're up to, Kimaguire, but…" Yoh blocked one of Kimaguire's frenzied shots. "…I'm not gonna lose!"
"Fat chance," Kimaguire said, stopping momentarily. Yoh took the opportunity to try and strike her sword, but she seemingly vanished into thin air. Yoh looked around, clueless, not aware that Kimaguire was behind him. Kimaguire kicked him down. He hit the floor hard.
"Poor Yoh Asakura," Kimaguire moped falsely. She grabbed the halberd and put it to Yoh's neck. "I was hoping that you would be a more worthy opponent. How you beat Ren… the world may never know."
Kimaguire was about ready to strike with the halberd when something tripped her up and made her fall. The halberd landed harmlessly behind her.
Kimaguire looked at her feet, which were now bound with Chinese prayer beads. Anna stood behind her, clutching the other side of the prayer bead necklace.
"Slipped up, now did we?" Anna scowled. "I don't know what's up with you, but I'm going to make it stop."
"Yeah right," Kimaguire said frantically. Without warning Kimaguire slapped Anna's hand with her sword's hilt. Anna let go of the beads in pain, allowing Kimaguire to grab them and swing them around Anna's neck. The newly fashioned noose steadily took Anna's breath as Kimaguire grabbed the beads tighter.
"Stay out of Yoh's fight," Kimaguire mumbled. Kimaguire dropped the beads. Anna collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. Kimaguire turned to Yoh, who had since gotten off the ground.
"Now the fun begins," Kimaguire smiled evilly, grabbing the kwan dao off the ground once again. Yoh still gripped the sword firmly. His own blood, from Kimaguire's kick, dribbled down his chest and onto his belt buckle. Yoh looked down then snickered.
"You're good, Kimaguire Okono…" Yoh jumped out of the way of Kimaguire's lunges. "You just aren't good enough."
Yoh jumped out of the way of Kimaguire and thrust his sword in her direction. Kimaguire narrowly missed, but a piece of paper began to poke out of her pocket.
Manta gasped as he saw some black energy resonating from the tiny slip of paper.
"Yoh, paper!" Manta yelled. Kimaguire and Anna looked at Manta.
"Paper?" Anna repeated incredulously.
"What are you talking about, shorty?" Kimaguire said mockingly. Yoh saw the paper too. He backed up into a wall ten or so feet away from Kimaguire.
Kimaguire looked from Manta to Yoh. She burst out laughing. "You're pathetic, Yoh. Quite pathetic…"
"Let's see who's laughing afterwards," Yoh stated. He drew his sword. In a lightning fast motion he began to swipe.
"Shock Wave…" Yoh became ready to swing. "…BUDDHA GIRI!"
Kimaguire looked shockingly at Yoh. The paper fell to the ground, slit in half. She glanced at Anna, still gasping for air, an amazed Manta, and Yoh…
Yoh was smiling. Kimaguire fell to the floor, her eyes welling up with tears as she hit the ground. She looked at the blood on her shoulders and arms, then to the kwan dao lying near her feet. She sniffled loudly.
"I did something bad… very bad…" Kimaguire was sobbing hard on the floor. "I can't remember… something very bad…"
Yoh walked over to Kimaguire and put a hand on her back. "It's okay."
"Yoh…" Kimaguire turned his way. Her eyes were dabbled with tears, her cheeks flushed completely red from the stress, and… she looked beautiful.
"How touching."
Ren stood on the kotatsu, frowning maliciously. He was obviously very annoyed.
"Hey Ren," Anna snapped. "Got a question for you." Anna whipped out her prayer beads and flipped them around Ren's feet. Typical idiot, wasn't expecting an attack from below. Or an attack with prayer beads, for that matter. Ren got tossed backward, his feet bound and his hands completely useless, as his kwan dao was lying five feet away at Kimaguire's feet.
"What did you do to my friend?" Anna finally said, pulling Ren to about three centimeters away from her face. Manta and Yoh toppled over.
"Friend…?" Yoh gasped.
"Anna can show feeling?" Manta cried. Kimaguire scowled.
"Well, of course," Kimaguire sneered. "She's not heartless. Where'd you get that idea?"
Yoh and Manta didn't answer.
"Nothing much," Ren answered Anna. "Just brainwashed her."
"Nothing much, huh?" Anna screamed. "She tried to kill me and Yoh!"
"Exactly what I wanted her to do," Ren explained. Kimaguire grabbed her memorial tablet from her boot and summoned her spirit partner, Arukamisu.
"Go home, Ren," Kimaguire yelled. "INTEGRATE!"
Arukamisu stared Ren straight in the eye. Her sword was aimed at his heart, but instead, Arukamisu whacked him in the head with the hilt of the blade. Ren was out like a light.
"Why not kill him?" Anna asked. Kimaguire exorcised Arukamisu. Arukamisu floated gently over Kimaguire's head.
Kimaguire looked at Ren, definitely less threatening-looking now that he was sawing logs. "He's my brother… maybe one day I'll feel like that statement's true."
...&?
Tao Jun remembered vividly that cloudy day. It was so gloomy and dreary – so naturally, Ren was trying to ambush Yoh. Tao Jun was closing up the shaved ice shop.
A girl was running… very fast, as Tao Jun could recall. In one hand was a memorial tablet, in the other a beautiful box. Tao Jun had watched the girl fall to the ground, out of fatigue, the box clattering to the asphalt. The memorial tablet had stayed firmly planted in the girl's hand as a demon chased her wildly.
Tao Jun had run out to the girl. Her hair had fallen in her face, and her face was remarkably ashen. Tao Jun had seen the foul spirit behind the girl. The girl suddenly awoke and grabbed the box off the ground. She flipped it open, banishing the demon ghost to kingdom come – or in his case, the underworld.
Tao Jun watched the girl fall again, this time the box had rattled open. Revealed to Tao Jun was the girl's most prized treasure… a picture of a fellow shaman… one she knew quite well, ironically enough.
Tao Jun snapped out of her daydream.
That was the first time I saw Kimaguire, wasn't it? Tao Jun thought. Kimaguire opened the door to the Chinese restaurant. She looked mad.
"Tao Jun, your brother possessed me!" Kimaguire blurted out without coaxing. Tao Jun looked at Kimaguire confusedly.
"He does go overboard, doesn't he?" Tao Jun muttered. "I'm sorry, Kimaguire…"
Tao Jun smiled. "Do you still have your pager? And… the box?"
Kimaguire pulled the box out of her pocket. Inside were the picture and the pager, given to her by the coordinators of the Shaman Fight. Kimaguire pulled out the weathered picture of Yoh Asakura.
"He's the one my parents want me to marry…" Kimaguire sighed. "… And I'll win the Shaman Fight and make him mine…"
Tao Jun shook her head. "Just be careful. That's all I ask."
The End
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Shaman King. This has been determined to be factual.