A/N: It's been a while since I've last written anything... But here's the new chapter! I'm actually surprised I've made it to five chapters! I thought I'd lose interest after the third chapter, but I guess I thought up something interesting. (Okay, technically it was Hiroyuki Takei who thought this whole thing up, but it was my idea to insert good ol' Kitty-chan into it!) As usual, reviews are at the bottom of the page...
Rag Doll
Part V: Of Broken Arms and Letters to Izumo
Why Yoh thought he could beat Ren was completely beyond me. Ren had that ultra-spiffy kwan-dao that could cut through a moving eighteen-wheeler, while Yoh...he had a two-foot-long pipe. I'll admit, getting whacked with a pipe does hurt, but come on, Yoh! How could you be that stupid! Do you really think that you're going to beat Ren and save Amidamaru using nothing more than a pipe! I heaved a sigh, knowing that if Manta didn't get back soon with Yoh's sword, our dead bodies would be found the next morning by a movie theater worker or whatnot.
"Give me the damn samurai!" I heard Ren bark, practically skewering Yoh on the blunt-yet-still-dangerously-pointy end of the kwan-dao. I wished Ren wasn't so violent about what he desired; did he even ask Yoh if he could have Amidamaru? If I remember correctly, he just walked up to Yoh and said, "Gimme the samurai," and when he didn't get what he wanted, he tried to hack off Yoh's arm. Or something like that...
"I can't do that!" Yoh choked, holding onto his stomach where Ren had tried to make him into a shish-kabob. "I'd never betray a friend!" Suddenly, I saw Jun take a step forward; one of those huge steps that usually accompanies some sort of brilliant revelation.
"Pailong!" she yelled, pulling a new talisman from her garter. "Assist my little brother! We're wasting too much time here as it is!" Suddenly, that talisman was stuck to Pailong's forehead, and he was charging full-force at my already-weakened "fiancé." Wait a minute! That was not supposed to happen! Manta was supposed to be back already with Yoh's sword, and then Anna was supposed to summon Sha-Wen's spirit, and bing bang boom-we would have Jun and Pailong on our side. But of course, of course, we had to send Anna back home to Izumo. Now we would die, and it was all because Yoh just had to back me up in my opinion. Stupid Yoh...
As I had suspected, the combination of Pailong and Ren fighting together had Yoh beaten to something that almost resembled one of those little stress-reducers toys that your dad always has on his desk at work. No, there didn't appear to be any missing limbs or displaced organs, but quite a number of bruises and bumps had appeared, and by the way Yoh was holding his left arm, it looked to be broken. I seriously hoped it wasn't, though, because that would most likely be the end of us. Just as I was sure Pailong and Ren were about to kill Yoh, I heard pattering footsteps approaching from down the street.
"Manta-kun!" I squealed, knowing that only Yoh's best friend could take steps that small while running. Sure enough, the little blonde boy skidded around the corner of the bookshop on the corner, sword in hand and panting like there was no tomorrow. Of course, Manta's entire world seems to revolve around Yoh, so he failed to notice me and my bleeding nose.
"Yoh-kun!" he wailed, hightailing his way over to Yoh, the sword completely forgotten. I noticed that Manta was in no way injured, meaning that he hadn't met up with Ryu and his gang. Apparently he was after a real sword, not a bokuto, because that was what he had returned with. It wasn't as dramatic as the manga-version when Manta didn't get the crap kicked out of him, but I think it saved a little time having him run all the way to Funbari Onsen.
"Manta..." Yoh murmured, gazing up at his best friend. I didn't know how I could hear a noise so small from about twenty-five feet away, but I guessed heightened senses were one of the magical powers the anime-world was so blessed with.
"I got you a sword!" Manta exclaimed, remembering his task and shoving the sword into Yoh's hands. "Now you can fight Pailong!" Yoh looked relieved to an extent, but he fixed his eyes on Ren, who had managed to hide himself in the shadow of a parked car.
"I'm facing more than Pailong," Yoh said gravely, nodding toward Ren.
"That's Ren!" Manta yelped, absolutely beside himself. "Yoh-kun, you can't fight Ren and Lee Pailong at the same time! We've got to get outta here!" Despite his best friend's dramatics, Yoh just sighed.
"If that's what I hafta do to keep Amidamaru safe, that's what I'm gonna do." Really deep, Yoh; too bad it won't work! Manta seemed to have the same thoughts as I did, because he tried to prevent Yoh from standing and fighting with all he had in him.
"You can't!" Manta said, tears springing to his eyes as a possible last ditch effort to keep Yoh from fighting Pailong and Ren. "You just can't"
"Everything will work out fine," Yoh said serenely as he stood. "Just you watch." There was just something about the way he looked at Manta when he said this that made me want to believe him. He seemed to confident about his abilities, even though his left arm was most likely broken.
"Don't be a fool," Ren cut in suddenly. Well, that ruined the mood. Definitely. "You're not even a match for me, so there's no way you can beat me and Pailong." To this, Yoh only smiled peacefully. I didn't understand how anyone could smile like that with a newly-broken arm, but then again, Yoh is capable of some pretty amazing things when he sets his mind to them, so I guessed I'd better not think it over too much.
Anyhow, Ren seemed to take offense at Yoh's smile; maybe he thought Yoh was mocking him by remaining so peaceful during a fight. The Delectable One launched himself at Yoh, followed closely by Pailong. In almost an instant, metal had hit metal as Yoh's sword and Ren's kwan-dao met in mid-air, then the sound of Manta's scream echoed around. He hadn't had a chance to scoot off to the sidelines before Yoh and Ren had resumed their fight, and had ended up scant inches from the pair of razor-sharp blades. Trembling, he scurried out of the way and proceeded to hide himself behind me.
"Do you think Yoh-kun can win, Kitty-chan?" he asked nervously, glancing between myself and the fight.
"I really hope so," I said, feeling proud of myself for having spoken the for the first time this chapter. It wasn't like me to remain completely silent for too long, but I guess I was too enthralled watching the fight to even form a logical thought. Plus, I didn't really have anyone to talk to; the Delectable One and my "fiancé" were in the middle of a fight, and I didn't really have too much to say to either Jun or Pailong at the moment.
"I hope so, too," Manta said quietly. I was dead sure he had some kind of interior monologue going on in his head as the two of us resumed watching the fight.
What I just didn't understand was how Yoh's fighting ability could have increased that much just by gaining a sword. I mean, I knew Amidamaru said it would help, but damn, Yoh was kicking so much ass it wasn't even funny. Soon enough, my "fiancé" had cut through the talisman on Pailong's forehead, rendering him utterly useless; by the way he had fallen to the ground, face down, it made it exceedingly difficult for Jun to attach a new talisman to his forehead. Of course, the dao-shi could have just turned him over and gotten back to business, but it didn't seem to be her style to do any actual work.
"Whoa!" Manta said breathlessly, gazing at Pailong. Since Yoh had obtained a sword, the mood of the situation had brightened considerably. "Yoh and Amidamaru just took out Lee Pailong! It's more amazing than the movies!"
I smiled; maybe we wouldn't die after all.
Just as this thought passed through my head, I saw the Delectable One receive a particularly harsh blow and come skidding across the pavement towards Manta and myself. Manta scooted himself out of the way so that Ren wouldn't bowl him over. I imagine sliding along pavement like that must be particularly painful, especially in shorts as short as Ren's. Small scrapes had made themselves visible on the Delectable One's gorgeously-tanned skin, but he didn't seem to notice them. As soon as Ren began to stand up, Yoh and Amidamaru were right there in front of him, pointing the tip of the sword at his throat.
"Looks like I've got you beat, Ren," Yoh said, smiling sheepishly. "Don't try to fight me anymore. You'll only end up getting hurt." Ren glared at him, then at the ground. Apparently, he wasn't very good at admitting defeat. Just then, Ren sprang up from the ground, though not viciously.
"I let you win," he snorted, stalking toward his sister. "It wouldn't have been honorable to take the samurai when you were that wounded." He nodded at Yoh's left arm, then motioned to Jun. "Come on, Jun," he said. Jun nodded silently, then disappeared into the night with her little brother. I tried to get one last look of the Delectable One and his delightful backside, but alas, it was too dark.
"I think Ren was lying when he said he let me win," Yoh said, blinking.
"I agree," Amidamaru said, nodding. He'd left Yoh's body just a moment ago, and had yet to return to his memorial tablet. "Someone such as Tao Ren would not give up so easily." Manta nodded vigorously.
"It's a good thing you got that sword, Yoh-kun," the blonde said enthusiastically. Yoh laughed, leaning on his sword a bit with his good arm.
"Yeah, if it weren't for you, Manta, I might even be dead right now!" Yoh said happily. Manta smiled pensively, and everything went silent for a moment.
"Kitty-chan!" Yoh exclaimed suddenly, breaking the silence. "Your nose! Is it okay!" I'd just about forgotten that Pailong had kicked me in the face, except for the dull throbbing coming from my nose. Of course, Yoh drawing attention to it made it seem to hurt even more.
"I think it's okay," I said, crossing my eyes to try to assess the damage. No, it was most definitely not okay! There was a bump on the bridge of it; a trait I hadn't possessed beforehand. I'd had a friend who got elbowed in the face during a frisbee game and broke her nose, and she still has that same kind of bump. Now, I don't know about you, but I happened to like the way my face looked before going to see 'Fist of Rage,' and I didn't want to have a nose-bump for the rest of my life.
"That's good," Yoh said caringly. "I wish I could say the same about my arm, though." Suddenly, the attention that was focused on my face was now on Yoh's arm, which most definitely was broken.
"We've gotta get you to the hospital, Yoh-kun!" Manta yelled. He always seemed to be a little overly-dramatic when it came to his best friend, and now was no exception.
"But I was just there a few weeks ago," Yoh pouted.
"Manta-dono is correct," Amidamaru said, crossing his own unbroken arms. "You need medical attention if that arm is going to heal properly."
"But" Yoh tried, but Manta interjected.
"Nope, you're going to the hospital right now," the blonde insisted, pushing Yoh along down the street. Amidamaru and I followed them soon after to the hospital.
((Later... At the hospital...))
I'd received a tiny brace for my nose from the doctors, and at the moment it was currently stuck to my face as I sat alone in the waiting room of the hospital. Manta and Amidamaru had accompanied Yoh to the X-ray room, leaving me alone in the funny-smelling waiting room to ponder that evening's events.
Just for the record, I'm one of the few people in the world that doesn't hate hospitals. Yes, they're antiseptic and impersonal, but without them, there would be a great deal fewer people in the world. And my nose would end up being a funny shape for the rest of my life.
Anyway, after many minutes of thinking about oh-so-many things, I came to the conclusion that I could not train Yoh any longer. He had escaped from Ren and Pailong with a broken arm; not something that had happened in the canon story. I knew I could train Yoh physically almost as well as Anna could, but I most definitely couldn't teach him how to become a better shaman. And, I was beginning to fear that the Tokagero-incident was approaching far too quickly for my liking. If I couldn't summon Mosuke to come and fix Harusame when that whole episode was done, then things just wouldn't work.
So, I made up my mind that I'd have to get Anna back at Funbari Onsen.
After a few moments of searching, I found a pad of that hospital paper with the logo in the top corner, and a cheap pen that didn't write very well, and I began composing my letter to Anna. If I asked her to come back without making myself sound desperate, maybe she would come and train Yoh and save our butts. Heck, maybe we could even be (and I shudder at the thought) ...friends.
Dear Anna,
It might seem odd for me to ask this of you so soon after your return to Izumo, but I feel that you are needed here in Tokyo more than back home. You see, Yoh got into a fight with a rival shaman and his sister recently over Amidamaru. He won the fight, you'll be happy to hear, but he broke his arm in the process. It is not serious, but I am still worried for him. There are other shamans out there who could do more considerable damage to my fiancé than a broken arm, and I feel them drawing closer as each day passes by. I've been training him using a regimen similar to yours, but it doesn't appear doing the job. I seem to be unfit as a personal trainer for Yoh, so I'm asking you to join the two of us here in Tokyo. We'd enjoy your company as soon as possible, but we understand if you don't want to come back.
With love, Kitty
For some bizarre reason, I always ended up sounding so formal when I was writing letters in cursive. But this time it made me feel a whole lot smarter than Anna, so I didn't mind quite as much as usual. I planned to mail my letter as soon as we got out of the hospital.
((Still later... At Funbari Onsen...))
I'd mailed the letter off to Izumo as soon as Yoh had pried the doctors away from his arm and we were able to leave. I wasn't quite sure why, but the cast on Yoh's left arm was the most blinding shade of orange I'd ever seen. It was like the orange vests that hunters wear when they go off into the woods, only this was actually too painful to look at. I shuddered slightly, knowing that Yoh's cast wouldn't be coming off for a few weeks at the very least, so I'd have to endure that horrid thing until then. I glared at it hatefully for a moment.
"I thought you said your nose was fine," Yoh laughed suddenly, as if he hadn't noticed the brace. My nose seemed to be his only topic of interest since Pailong had broken it, and he'd spent almost every second since Manta went up to bed staring at it.
"I thought it was, too," I said, averting my eyes from the cast before I got a headache. "But the doctors seemed to have other ideas."
"That's okay," he grinned. "I still think it's just as cute as ever." And with that, he leaned over and kissed the tip of said broken-nose lightly. Even though I was entirely used to the idea of kissing-friends, Yoh did not happen to be one of my kissing-friends, and I felt the urge to rip his head off growing stronger as the nano-seconds zipped by. And wait just a minute! Did he just call my nose cute! I really hoped that I'd just misunderstood him; it was pretty late at the moment, and I have a tendency to hear things wrong when I'm in need of sleep. But this time, I was almost sure I'd heard him right, and I was just about ready to actually rip his head off. Now, don't get me wrong, I knew what a wonderful thing being kissed by Yoh was, and I knew (and still do know) many, many girls who'd kill to have the honor bestowed on them, but honestly, I wanted none of it. If you recall, Ren was the one I had been scheming to seduce since this whole ordeal started, not any lazy Asakura-boy!
I stood up a bit too quickly before Yoh could try and hug me to death like he usually did. I could feel the blood rushing around in my head, and it took me a moment before I had enough balance to walk.
"Oyasumi, Yoh-koi," I said, making my escape less-than-subtly.
"Oyasumi!" I heard Yoh call as I jogged up the stairs. I scooted down the hall as fast as I could without waking Manta, who had decided to spend the night in a spare room. When I entered my room, I was a little angry that I had to roll out the whole futon-thing on the floor. If I had been back at home, I could have just hopped in my bed and gone to sleep, but no-o-o-o! I had to set up a futon. I added a bed to the list of things I needed to acquire for Funbari Onsen. (A shower, a new TV, a dishwasher, etc. The list went on and on.) But as soon as I crawled under the heavy blankets of the futon, I was almost instantly asleep.
I dreamt that I had convinced Ren into becoming my cheerleader for when I played volleyball. Heck, he even had on a frilly little skirt and was waving around puffy pink pompoms. It must have been that blow to the head earlier that evening.
The next day, I awoke as early as a fifteen-year-old ever could, and headed downstairs. Shortly after, Manta appeared in the kitchen, and the two of us carried on a rather long conversation about oh-so-many things as I attempted to make muffins. It was like the Manta-and-Kitty bonding time.
"I wrote to Anna," I told Manta, who blinked.
"How come?" he asked. "I though you two were rivals."
"We are, but I'm worried that Yoh-koi isn't strong enough," I said. I was actually being serious about something for the first time since I'd arrived in the Shaman King-world. "So I need Anna to train him for me."
"But Yoh-kun took out Lee Pailong last night!" Manta said loudly. I shook my head, feeling like such a downer. It wasn't like me to be talking to someone around my age and not be laughing my head off.
"But Pailong broke his arm," I said. "It wasn't supposed to be that way, Manta-kun. And if you hadn't gotten there with the sword, Yoh-koi would've been killed." Manta fell silent, staring at the muffins through the oven window. Just then, I heard Yoh's footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Don't tell Yoh-koi that I invited Anna back here," I said quietly, opening the oven door to inspect my muffins. "He'll be mad at me for sure," I added, smiling a little at what I'd just said. Yoh hardly ever got mad about anything, so why would he be upset with me for inviting his real fiancée back.
"I won't," Manta said, and for an unknown reason, the two of us shared a private giggle.
"Ohayô!" Yoh called as he entered the kitchen a moment later, wearing an off-white yukata. He took a long, happy sniff of the muffin-scented air, then sighed. "Smells good," he said, practically dancing into the kitchen. Either he'd had an inspiration for something or other, or he'd had a particularly erotic dream, because those are the only two things I know of that could make a person that happy so early in the morning.
"Ohayô," Manta and I chorused, and Yoh pranced over to the kitchen table and sat down.
"You're looking...peachy...this morning," I said, pulling the muffins out of the pan. "Sleep well?"
"Uh-huh," he said, and I arched an eyebrow. Yep, he'd had an erotic dream for sure. There was no denying it. "Best I've slept in a while."
"I see," I said, nodding and turning my back on Yoh and Manta. Before I could even offer either of the boys a muffin, I heard a knocking at the front door. I scurried out of the kitchen towards the door and opened it delicately. Even if I wasn't dressed or anything, I still felt like I should act dainty when I greeted strangers at the door. Of course, this was no stranger.
Kyôyama Anna stood in the door way, a little red bag on a stick over her shoulder and a scowl on her face.
"Hello Anna," I said cheerfully. "It's nice to see you got here safely." Anna glared, and I shifted my yukata around a bit. It was starting to fall down a little, and I got the feeling that Anna would be adding 'slut' and 'whore' and whatnot to the long list of bad names for me if I was any more un-presentable. That is, if those words weren't already on the list.
"Where's Yoh?" she asked, her eyes traveling accusingly over the area of skin near my collarbone.
"He's in the kitchen," I said, securing a welcoming smile on my face. "Come in and have breakfast with us; we've got fresh muffins"
"Yoh has to train," Anna barked suddenly. If it hadn't been directed at me, I would have laughed my ass off at how her high-pitched voice squeaked when she yelled. "He doesn't have time for muffins!" If her whiny voice wasn't funny enough as it was, that that last comment was. I giggled, though I tried not to. "What's so funny?" she hissed.
"Don't be so silly Anna," I said, acting as her complete opposite. "Come in and have something to eat with us. We can catch up on things." With that, I tried to guide Anna into the kitchen like a good hostess should. Of course, she resisted.
"Don't act to familiar with me," she snarled, stalking ahead of me into the kitchen. I blinked, then smiled as I heard Yoh's and Manta's startled reactions to the itako.
And, I'm not kidding, within five minutes of her arrival, Anna had Yoh up and running like she'd never left, and Manta was scrubbing away at just about everything in sight. When Anna took a momentary bathroom break from her bossing-around duties, I grabbed the opportunity and scooted my ass out the front door and away from Funbari Onsen for the day. Maybe I could go shopping...It bothered me quite a bit that everyone wore the same clothes day after day, leaving it up to me to break the cycle. So, a-shopping I would go! And without Anna bossing me around or Yoh trying to hug me to death, I would be a happy camper!
End Part V.
A/N: Not too much to say at the moment... Oh, right! I joined the 30 Kisses community at Livejournal, so I'll be writing those 30 Yoh x Tamao fics I've been scheming to write for a while. I think that after five chapters of Anna-bashing, I can express my love of Yoh x Tamao without being worried about those freakishly-obsessive Yoh x Anna 'shippers coming after me. (Honestly, I've seen people so infatuated with that couple that it's stated in their pennames. Not a bad thing, really...just...scary.) Anyway, here are those happy little review responses I have to much fun writing!
WiNdScArBaBe: Sorry if this disappoints you, but Anna will be back within the next chapter. I know, not my favorite thing to do, but Yoh needs the training if things are going to play out like they did in the series. Ah! You used the cool 'wowishness'-word again! I don't know why I like it so much...
Sakura Mitsu: I think this chapter was the most fun out of all of them to write. I got to express things that I'd had inside of me for almost two years ago when I first saw Ren in that issue of Shônen Jump, so it almost feels like a big weight has been lifted off my chest in revealing that Ren-obsessed semi-perverted part of myself. Oh dear, now I just sound like the old guidance counselor talking about how great it is to be myself. I'll shut up now...
SGCred: I think by actually introducing Ren to the Jun-and-Pailong arc, I'm stretching canon a little too much, so I need to restore things to the way they are in the series as fast as I can, while still having my way in staying at Funbari Onsen. But don't worry, Ren will be back sometime when I look presentable.
The Summer Stars: As I mentioned last time, the real point of this is to go beyond the average self-insertion/OC/Mary Sue in that, if I act exactly as I would in real life, people will be able to sympathize and relate to me quite a bit more than if I just whipped out some awesome female-ninja-ghost and started kicking everyone's asses with her and my amazing store of mana/furyoku (I honestly can't remember which is which...). Yeah, if I ever remember what fic I was reading last year, I'll be sure to tell you. I think it was a DBZ or Inu-Yasha fic... As for Tamao, I really think she should be with Yoh. (Hence the 30 Kisses challenge dedicated to Yoh x Tamao.)
soccer-cutie67: I don't know why, but there's a huge part of me that says that Ren and Yoh are both bi. I think it's because I love yaoi so much, but I'd just be too jealous if both of them only liked other guys and couldn't ever find a place for me like they could, say... Horo. Solution? Make them bisexual; double the fun. (Yes, it's a bit gross when you think about it that I can alter their sexuality in my head, but, if you've read the last two chapters of this fic, you must know that I'm not quite as innocent as I appeared to be back in Chapter 1.)
Dreammistress Jade: It's okay, hun! Just calm down! Deep breaths! (takes a few deep breaths) Anyway, I don't see why you're apologizing; you have a life and I don't. It's as simple as that, so don't worry about anything. I'll send you the next chapter as soon as I get it done, and you can reply when you get the time. And chill; I won't let anyone die yet. (Though I have my thoughts as to who's going to get killed off before the end.)
Akio the Dragon Master: Quite frankly, I don't think Ren wants a girlfriend, especially one like me. (I've honestly lost count as to how many times I've said that.) I'm to peppy and happy, kinda like Pirika, only not as...annoying. Oh God, I just compared myself to Pirika; I think I've lost it.
Mikol: Thank you! I hope you like it enough to read it to the end!
Bafu: Ah, I do that all the time! I see a fic that looks almost-interesting, then I don't read it until it's like half-over and the authoress already has knows who her faithful reviewers are! And, of course, the ones I put off reading always end up being my favorites.