Hunters and the Hunted

By: Rena Kuroyama

Anime: Shaman King, Spiral Suiri no Kizuna

Summary: The Blade Children find a new member in Patch Village. Who is this Blade Child? Mild Language, violence, romance, stuff like that. Kousuke x Ryoko, Rio x Lyserg, Eyes x Kanna, Meene x Marco

Warning: Some spoilers for both shows, I guess. Rio is 13 (I know she's really 17, but it's very important that she's young.) and the rest is the same age.

Disclaimer: Rena-chan does not own Spiral or Shaman King. She wished to, though. Right now, she's just borrowing them for some fun.

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Chapter 1: The Missing Rib

"Is he going to be alright?" Meene asked, looking into the sleeping face of Lyserg. The X-Laws had an assault earlier from Hao and his gang. Lyserg had shielded Meene and had not woken up since.

"Don't worry, Meene-san. He will be fine. There is a mystery, though…" Jeanne looked at Meene. Marco came in with an envelope.

"Jeanne-sama, this came from Johann Faust VIII. It seems like a very important document of some sorts." He handed the large envelope to Jeanne, who sighed.

"I had requested x-ray shots from the only doctor I know. I hope this will help." She pulled out a large tracing box (boxes with built-in lights to help tracing easier) and placed an x-ray shot on it.

"Oh my, this doesn't help us at all." Jeanne shook her head. Marco and Meene were left confused, so Jeanne pointed to a spot on the shot.

"Huh? He's missing a rib." Meene said.

"Seventh rib on the right…" Jeanne looked up, "Now where have I heard of that before?" Meene found something about the statement familiar, but failed to remember. Marco thought for a minute, and then gasped.

"Jeanne-sama…" He started, but found a finger on his mouth.

"Shh…someone's here." Meene whispered. Marco strained to listen to what was wrong, and caught a faint sign of giggling right out of their window.

"Who's there?" The two cocked their guns. Jeanne got ready to defend everyone in there. A girl, about 13, with gray pigtails jumped out of bushes.

"I know something you guys don't…" She whispered playfully, and then ran away. Marco jumped out of the window, trailing the little girl.

"Get back here!" He yelled. The girl turned around, smiling.

"What is his name?" She asked. Marco stared, wide-eyed at the girl who tapped her foot impatiently.

"W…what is whose name?" Marco tried to sound official and brave, yet he failed miserably. The girl giggled.

"The one with the missing rib, what is his name?" The girl looked up, "I really must know, what his name is."

"That is not of your business. Now tell me what you were doing back there." Marco pushed his glasses up. The girl slipped a small cat plushy out of her pocket.

"Oh well, I'll have Kousuke check that one out. He's better at stuff like this. Bye-bye!" She looked up into one of the trees, grinning like heck. She dropped the doll and ran. Marco started after her, but stopped at the plushy exploded.

"Damn, she got away." Marco bit his thumb, making it bleed, "Who is that girl, and what does she want with Lyserg?" He walked back, not knowing that a certain red-head was listening to the whole conversation. Just as soon as he was gone, the red-head jumped off of the branch he was sitting on. The girl came back, smiling.

"So, what'd you find out, Kousuke?" She asked. Kousuke stretched, and then grinned.

"The boy's name is Lyserg. Rio, are you sure he's one of us? I mean, he could've lost that rib on some coincidence or something like that." Rio grinned.

"Trust me, Kousuke. He is one of us. Let's go." She skipped ahead of the teen. Kousuke sighed, then followed the younger girl to their campsite.

"So, what have you found out?" A voice said from the fire. Kousuke leaned against a tree, letting Rio do all of the explaining.

"I believe that he is one of the Blade Children. Eyes, do you agree or disagree?" Rio asked. Eyes turned to the younger girl, then looked up into the stars.

"I do not know. I must get more information to interpret that." He finally said.

"I can help you three." A voice of a young boy chirped from a treetop. Kousuke jumped up, taking his knife out of the jacket. Eyes stood calmly, and Rio pulled out a bomb.

"Who's there?" Kousuke asked. A boy with waist-length brown hair landed gracefully next to Rio, who shrieked in surprise.

"My name is Hao Asakura. I can help you get Lyserg." Hao grinned. Eyes motioned for Kousuke and Rio to put their weapons away.

"Are you crazy, Rutherford?" Kousuke shouted, "What if he works for the Hunters?" Hao dropped his smile a bit at that.

"Should I prove that I do not work for these Hunters?" Hao asked. Eyes cut Kousuke off.

"Asazuki, I know of this boy," He said, "I have met him before." Kousuke sighed heavily and put his knife away. Rio backed away from the boy, though.

"Eyes, he…there's something bizarre with him." Rio said, shivering. Hao saw this and bowed.

"I'm afraid you must get used to it. There is nothing I can do about my Furyoku." Hao looked straight into the frightened girl's face, "I am very sorry if you are uncomfortable."

"Uhh…" Kousuke started, but Eyes stopped him with a glare, "Fine." He went back to his leaning. Eyes sat down next to the fire again.

"So tell me, how exactly are you able to help us?" He said, closing his eyes as he did so. Rio couldn't handle the strange feeling and glomped Kousuke, who shrieked in surprise.

"Rio, what is your problem?" He hissed. Rio just held on tighter. Kousuke gave up and tried to concentrate on the conversation that was going on between this Hao Asakura kid and Eyes, which he missed most of the important details because of the commotion.

"So, you are willing to help us?" Eyes asked. Hao nodded, and then jumped as he was glomped by a girl with red hair.

"Hao-sama, where have you been?" The girl asked, blushing like mad. Hao sighed.

"Macci-chan, where's Mari-chan and Kanna-chan?" Hao asked, looking serious. Macci let go of her leader and smiled.

"Mari is here with Kanna, Hao-sama." A blond girl carrying a freaky doll walked out of the bushes, the exact same place that Macci came from. Kanna collapsed onto the ground.

"What are you three doing here?" Hao asked, finding the fact that Kanna was exhausted amusing.

Mari answered first, "Mari was bored, Macci was worried about Hao-sama, and Kanna was just tired, so they decided to find Hao-sama. Who are those people, Hao-sama?"

Kousuke looked up from his spot, "You know, did you learn proper language? You're talking weird." Mari glared at him.

"Mari knows how to talk. She talks just fine." She cried. Macci was staring at Eyes the whole time.

"Hao-sama, who are these people?" She asked, curious of the strangers, or should I say, stranger.

"I will inform you later, at the camp. Now then, shall we go?" Hao asked the girls, who nodded, "I will be back here tomorrow afternoon. Then, we shall plan out little plot." Hao smirked, and then left the Blade Children with Mari and Kanna. Macci stared at the pianist for a while, and then followed her friends.

"What a strange bunch. We should get some rest, Rio and Asazuki." Eyes turned to face the other Blade Children, but noticed that they had fallen asleep. Eyes smiled and picked Rio up, putting her into her tent. Then, he kicked Kousuke.

"Yah, what the hell?" Kousuke jumped up, ready to fight. Eyes groaned and pointed to the tent, causing Kousuke to grumble and walk over to his tent. Eyes shrugged and went to sleep in his tent.