Playing with Fire: CHAINED
Summary:After the finale battle against Naraku, Kagome and Kilala are thrown back to her time, but not her home, it would seem the Shikon Jewel has other plans. Now, lost in a forest Kagome wanders around until finally passing out do to exhaustion and hunger. When she wakes up a week later she finds herself in the hands of a fire spirit and its owner Hao Asakura, who happened to come across her while taking a walk with his faithful companion, Opacho. Finding himself unable to walk away from her sense a certain Jewel seemed to find amusement in his suffering. Chained mentally against his will to a girl he's never met before. What will become of the 15 year old girl? How will they break the hold each other have over one another? What of her friends in the past? What will her cousin Anna, think when she see's Kagome with Hao? How is Kagome connected to the Tao family? And how could she have known so many Shamans and have no idea that they were, in fact, Shamans? Read and Review.
Disclaimer:I in no way own either InuYasha or Shaman King.
KEY
Flashback/Dream
Flashback
Telepathy
-Hao-
\Kagome\
-Shikon-
Thinking
'Thinking'
Chapter Nine
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Match One
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"Kagome?"
She could hear him from behind her, choosing however to continue training, she didn't answer.
"Ka-go-me?"
Kagome frowned, "Hao, I know meditation isn't on your list of daily things to do, but even if you don't do it, you should still know that Meditation is best when surrounded...by...Nature...not people!" She turned to glare at him from over her shoulder. Her first fight would be against her step-brother, and that meant, she needed to be at her best. She was strong, thanks to the training, but even she wasn't invincible. She had only managed to land a hit on Zinc because he'd drastically underestimated her, and even if he hadn't, then she could with all honesty say that Sesshoumaru had played a large part in that. She would have to get stronger, mentally and physically. "I need to be strong enough to take on Ren, and at this time, I'm not ready."
"..." Hao walked forward, standing so that his shadow overpowered her, he smirked.
This was a look that she'd seen once before, and had only too quickly decided that she didn't want to see again. It was that look that promised cruelty, and the time she'd seen it had been when he'd clearly stated not being chained to her. He was right though, his power far surpassed hers, and that is why she could without doubt say, she...was chained to him.
"Then...why not train with me...on a more physical level."
Kagome blushed, turning her head away quickly as images of their hot springs venture came flooding her mind, clouding her vision to the point that she couldn't tell if her eyes were open, or if the images were all in her head.
"I can train you so that no one can hurt you."
"...is that so..." She stood up with a renewed resolve, facing him, no longer was she flushed in the face, a hard look leveled him.
"...hahaha, I must say, your intimidation technique leaves much to be desired."
"No jokes, Hao! I face off against Ren in two more days...train me."
That cold look passed through his eyes, his brows narrowing down in an almost diabolical way. His smile still firmly in place, he called upon his Spirit of Fire, "As you wish..."
-x-x-x-
"Come on Anna, don't you think this is a little much?"
"Yoh, you just found out that your next opponent has been your housemate for the last week or so, and all you can do is whine about your training?"
"...well...yeah. Horo is cool...I mean, what's wrong with taking it easy for a while?"
Anna clenched her fists, "WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO TAKE IT EASY, YOH!"
~THUMP~
"Ah~!" He rubbed the newly acquired bump on his head, crying waterfalls at the lack of mercy shown by his fiancé. "Right...I get it...Amidamaru, are you ready?"
"Yes, Master Yoh!"
Manta watched as Yoh began practicing his spirit control, and attacks, he would have to do five hundred pushups once he was done with that, and then twenty mile laps around Tokyo, and also make it home in time to make Anna something to eat. 'I should probably do the shopping while he's busy.' Manta chuckled, feeling pity for his Shaman friend who was being lashed at by Anna for his slow spirit control.
"Um...Anna?"
"What is it Shorty?"
"Oh, I just wanted to let you know, I'm going to go get the groceries, I'll be back within the hour."
"That's fine," She turned back to Yoh, "Speed it up! I plan to be the first lady of the Shaman King, but I won't be if you don't speed up you spirit control!"
"..." Manta smiled, turning, he left to go pick up the items on the list Anna had given him.
-x-x-x-
Kagome choked pathetically, her spirit ghost, Hakudoshi, was also exhausted from the abuse shown by the Fire Shaman. "...Kagome!"
Her hands shook as she brought them up; trembling, she grasped the hand around her throat and struggled to push it away. "H...Ha...o!"
"HAO! THAT'S ENOUGH!"
Sesshoumaru appeared beside Hakudoshi, his eyes glowing red in anger as he watched the boy harm his Miko.
"Not yet," He snarled at the ghost, "She's right, she's too weak to fight anyone!" He laughed darkly, "If I'd not become fond of her myself, I would have to say, she's expendable."
Kagome felt a painful pang in her chest, her eyes widened at his words as heat began forming beneath his fingers. '...expendable...?' She felt the sting of tears starting to fall, 'N-no...Hao...I'm not weak...I'm...' She struggled with his hand before chocking out, "I...a-am not...W-WEAK!" Her hands lit up with her purification energy, but since he was not a demon, it didn't do much of anything, except knock him back. Which, she was happy for, she didn't want to hurt him...actually, on second thought...she didn't want to kill him...hurting him sounded like a pretty good idea right about now!
She collapsed to the ground, gasping for air that had finally been permitted to her. She could feel Hao staring at her in surprise, something he had probably thought he was through feeling around her. "I am not...weak..." She tried calming herself and controlling her breathing, burn marks on her arms and side from her fight with Hao, healing before his very eyes. "You would do well to remember that." Turning, she stormed off to vent.
Hao felt the tug of the chain before it slackened and allowed the girl a moment of freedom. He couldn't understand the steel spirit shackles. One minute he couldn't walk more than five feet away from the girl, and then the next minute she's halfway across town, while he's babysitting his followers. Personally, he was starting to think that the chain was choosing favorites, and he clearly wasn't at the top of its friends list.
-x-x-x-
Two days passed quickly with no sign from Kagome, and that wasn't making him very happy at the current moment. He'd had a run in with not only the Iron Maiden, as she had predicted prior to their arrival, but then Silva had thought it a pleasant surprise to come say 'Hi, we don't want you in our tournament, go home,' Not really in those words, but the shorter version explains his longer, drawn out version.
Actually, he was putting up with another annoyance, it was more commonly referred to as teenage girls, and three of them, not mentioning any names, wouldn't stop asking where their other master had gone off to. First off, he didn't recall ever implying that the girl was their other master. She was merely chained to him, so he had to keep her around. At this time, he was unsure of what would happen to him, if he killed her, and the chances of his attack backfiring on him, however slim they might be, were still unknown. He would take no chances, bidding his time until he was sure he could kill her without any recoil effects. '...Kagome...' He recalled that today was her fight with the Tao, her half-brother. He'd been watching the cruel hearted boy, and as of lately, had taken an interest in him. Sighing, he smirked; he jumped from his perch on a stone where he'd been watching the flames dance in the night. "I suppose...I should go find her,"
-x-x-x-
Kagome sat atop Shinjuku Shopping District. It was closed right now, with it being late at night, almost one in the morning. She wanted to argue with the chosen time for the fight, but decided, no one would listen to her complaints on not being aloud a proper nights' sleep. She glanced at her oracle bell which hung loosely on a tangerine orange sash that was tied around her hip. It was blinking Shinjuku 1:00 AM, having stopped bleeping earlier, which she was happy for. She'd had it stuffed under a pillow since she didn't know how to shut it off, or shut it up.
"So you showed up, I'm actually surprised..." Kagome said softly, not bothering to turn and verify the arrival of the Shaman behind her. She felt a hand as it touched her hair and pulled it to the side, a finger grazed the brownish bruise that stood against her pale moonlit skin.
"Thought you might want some company," Hao said as he sat down with his back to hers.
She jumped at the sudden gust of wind that caused a lock of his hair to brush against her neck. The tickle had surprised her, but she quickly composed herself and looked up at the starry night sky.
"What was it that you did before?"
She smiled, knowing it must have been eating at him, not able to figure out what she'd done to him two days ago. "It was nothing really; a barrier laced with my purification energy. Something I learned...from Kikyou..."
Hao turned so that he now sat beside her, one leg bent for his arm to rest on, the other dangling off the side of the building. "Who?"
"Kikyou, my...incarnation..."
"...wouldn't your incarnation have the same name as you?"
"Hm? No...my parents named me, how would they know that I would be a reincarnation of a Miko from five hundred years ago."
"Five hundred years ago, huh...now that I think about it, I think I recall your name."
She laughed, "Oh yeah?"
"The girl with indecent clothes, traveled around with demons, a slayer and a monk...was engaged to a demon wolf prince─"
"That last part isn't true!"
Hao laughed, "Just some things that I heard while killing off Patch inhabitants."
Kagome glared at Hao, elbowing him in his side. "That isn't funny..." She sighed, "Hao, what is it you want?"
"I kind of want a steak, but I'll assume you aren't referring to what I want for dinner,"
"I mean, why do you want to be Shaman King...?"
"...to rid the world of its disease."
"Disease?" She frowned, "What disease?"
"Humans."
"Wha─!? Humans?!"
She was stunned, but she wasn't left with time to question him on his sanity as Ren appeared across from her with a large cape that almost looked like it would swallow him up.
"I do hope I'm not interrupting anything important, Asakura."
"..." Hao's eyes were lit with a twisted sense of humor as he smiled softly, "Not at all, we were just discussing my future plans for when I become Shaman King,"
"When? You mean 'if', I plan to become the next Shaman King, and I won't let you or any other Asakura get in my way."
Kagome stood up and walked over to Ren; her spirit guardians appeared on either side of her as she stopped seven or eight feet away from her half-brother. "Ren, what reasons do you have for becoming Shaman King?"
"...My reasons are my own!"
"I have no intention of becoming the Shaman King, Queen or anything else...I merely wish to make sure that the one who becomes Shaman King, is befitting the position."
"It is for my family, I will restore honor to the Tao Family, I will restore our name!"
"..." Kagome sighed, 'Midoriko, if you can hear me, end this torture. Everyone I meet thinks of only their own selfish desires, what is the point of being Shaman King, if they are only self-serving kings.'
'Child, you will find the rightful Shaman King, but you must be patient. Humans are fragile, they may be Shaman's, but they are still human. Give them time...and they will learn...'
"...right..."
~BLEEP BLEEP~BLEEP BLEEP~BLEEP BLEEP~BLEEP BLEEP~BLEEEEEEEEEP~
She pushed her energy into the Naginata charm, "HAKUDOSHI! SPIRIT FORM! INTO THE NAGINATA!"
"BASON! SPIRIT FORM NOW! BASON INTO THE KWAN-DAO~!"
Hao stood to the side, watching both fighters as they readied themselves for the fight as Nichrom appeared before him, "The first to break spirit control or run out of Furyoku loses! The First Shaman Fight Begins NOW~!"
Hao stepped up to Nichrom who bowed to Hao before returning his attention to Ren and Kagome.
Kagome was the first to charge, "I'm sorry Ren, but you are no better than Hao! Until you change your views and reasons for becoming the Shaman King, I CAN'T LET YOU WIN!"
~CLANG~
Ren met her attack head on, his Kwan-Dao locking hers in place, keeping her at a distance. He smirked, "Do you really think you can stop me?!" He pushed her back, knocking her Naginata aside before attacking with his own assault, "RAPID TEMPO~!"
Kagome moved to the left before jumping out of the way, taking her Naginata, she brought it down on the fast moving Kwan-Dao, stopping his attack and slamming his blade into the building that they were both fighting on. He glowered irritably at her before swinging his Naginata in her direction and throwing her off balance; she stumbled backwards, catching her footing just barely before Ren brought his Naginata down fiercely.
"BASON, GOLDEN PUNCH ATTACK!"
"You'll have to do better than that!" Kagome yelled, charging him, she yelled, "GOLDEN FORTRESS!" A wall of energy built up around her, forming what looked like a white glowing castle tower around her. His attack hit, but she kept going, when he broke through the wall of energy, he was shocked to find his blade knocked aside by her own blade. "You can't beat me Ren!" She called, "Not with the reasons you're fighting for being your strength! FURY SURGE!"
A bright glow formed around the blade of the Naginata only for Ren to surprise her by dropping and kicking her back, her feet were off the roof, and all she saw below her was a forty-floor drop to stone pavement. Her eyes widened as the ground grew closer, coming to a decision, she brought the still glowing Naginata forward and rammed it into the building, slicing through it as she descended, slowing her decent effectively, when she came to a stop no more then twelve floors up, she shot her energy into the Naginata before pulling it out and quickly rocketing herself up with the blade by hitting the messed up building at the right angle. She found herself above Hao, using his knee as a platform, she landed softly.
Hao stared curiously at her, having sat down a while ago in his signature position, one knee bent, the other crossed on the ground, he hadn't expected his knee to be used as a podium.
"Now didn't I tell you that so long as you continued to fight with that reason as your strength, you would not win?"
Ren huffed, "What are you babbling on about!? You probably don't even have a reason to be in this Shaman Tournament!"
"This is my reason, Ren." She jumped off of Hao's knee, "FURY SURGE~!" Her cry was followed through with thousands of glowing needle thin energy spears. She watched as many of them caught her half-brother in the arms and legs as he turned and moved his body to avoid any major injury.
"Th-that won't f-finish me,"
Kagome smiled, "You are persistent...I'll give you that much, but your stubbornness will be your undoing," She held her free hand to her necklace and let some energy flow into the Tenseiga which she now held in her right hand. Stabbing the Naginata into the roof of the building, she held her hand up, "LORD SESSHOUMARU, SPIRIT FORM!" Sesshoumaru removed himself from the pink orb around her neck and appeared in her hand as a spirit orb, "Let's show him how out matched he is," Raising her hand up above her head, she yelled, "SESSHOUMARU, INTO THE TENSEIGA!" Her blade glowed fiercely a shield with spikes appeared over the arm and shoulder of the hand that held it firmly. "Hakudoshi, take a break, you've done great!" She smiled as Hakudoshi broke spirit control and appeared beside Hao, his Naginata still stabbed into the stone roof.
"Alright Ren, no more games!" She charged forward, "THIS TIME YOU WONT GET UP!" She yelled, "TENSEIGA, DO AS YOUR LORD BIDS! REVIVE ONE HUNDRED FALLEN DEMON SPIRITS! DEMON RAMPAGE~!" She brought the sword down and one hundred demon spirits rose from below, snarling, growling, and hissing, before attacking. Ren stared in stunned silence before attempting to dodge the barrage of demons. He had never seen a demon before, but he could with all honesty say they were terrifying creatures. He avoided most of them, but as claws caught his shoulder, he was hurled forward by another, and caught by some other disgusting creature. It brought a claw forward and traced his cheek, leaving a thin cut across his cheek.
He was thrown forward, backwards, this way and that way, he held on to his spirit control only just...finally, she brought her blade down on his Kwan-Dao and watched it snap in Ren's hands as he brought it up to protect himself. She stared down at her brother, and smiled sadly, getting down on one knee, his spirit control was broken, his eyes wide in horror...he stared at Kagome.
Smiling, she let her own spirit control break, "You can't beat me...until you find a new reason to fight for...you can't become the Shaman King...if it is for self-serving reasons such as yours."
She left him on the roof, leaving with Hao once the match was called in her favor.
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Me: Here is chapter nine of Playing With Fire: CHAINED!
