Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ Bason's Greatest Fear ❯ Those Cute Fluffy Creatures that go Nyaa ( Chapter 1 )

B A S O N ' S

G R E A T E S T

F E A R

(A.K.A. Those Cute Fluffy Creatures that go Nyaa)

A Hoshi ga Hoshii desu Side Story

by Lucathia

A/N: Who can resist a cute, fluffy story? This is the side story to Hoshi ga Hoshii desu, though you do not have to have read that fic to understand this story. I felt sad that this fic was removed from ffnet, and I didn't want this fic to die out...so here it is again, minus all author's notes. This is the last author note you will see! Any comments I have about my fics will be in my bio.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King.

Summary: Tao Ren can go into any Shaman Fight boasting that he isn't afraid of anything. The problem isn't him...it's his spirit. Bason's greatest fear...of all things, had to be CATS.

-----side chapter 1-----

Ren looked down, a faint red tinge coloring his cheeks. He quickly muttered, "I had to do some special training with Bason."

"Special training?" questioned Anna.

The redness in Ren's cheeks deepened. "To overcome his fear of..."

"Fear of?" Anna glowered.

Ren looked away and whispered...

"Cats."

Silence.

Until Horo Horo burst out laughing. "Cats? Bason is afraid of cats? Those cute, fluffy creatures that go nyaa?"

-----Those Cute Fluffy Creatures that go Nyaa-----

Tao Ren always took great pride in the fact that he wasn't afraid of anything. There was absolutely nothing that he was afraid of. Not death, for he had already died once before, not losing, for he can surely win the next time around, not Hao, for he was gone...so what was there to fear? Okay...maybe he did fear (it was only an extremely tiny tiny fear!) his sister getting mad at him...and maybe he did fear not having milk to drink. But that was beside the point.

He, Tao Ren, was a great shaman that feared nothing. He could go into any Shaman Fight boasting about that. But there was a slight problem. Only one tiny, tiny little problem.

He wasn't afraid of anything...but his spirit was.

And it wasn't anything that normal people...er...spirits were supposed to be afraid of. It wasn't like his spirit was afraid of some mummy, or vampire, or giant tarantula, or the Spirit of Fire, or Amidamaru, or the Great Spirits, or whatever else normal spirits should be afraid of.

Bason was afraid of cats.

And that was EMBARRASSING.

Ren didn't know much about his spirit...since before he had met Yoh, he had always thought of Bason as little more than a tool. A tool that should be used for his master's benefit. Ren never thought to ask Bason about his past...and that was one HUGE mistake on his part.

For Ren embarrassed himself in front of none other than Asakura Hao.

That day in the graveyard, Ren had been shocked beyond shock that Asakura Hao was still alive. Ren, along with several other people, had helped Yoh defeat Hao, so he personally thought that Hao was gone forever. But Hao wasn't dead. Instead, Hao was calmly lying on the grass in front of him, gazing up at the night sky.

Ren had been infuriated that the deadly pyromaniac had seemed so peaceful, so in place with nature. Hao had utterly turned their lives upside down, disappeared for a year, and now he was peacefully gazing at the stars as if nothing had happened.

Ren immediately started a harsh exchange of words with Hao. He ended up depending on his furyouku once again as he called Bason out to help him.

At that time, Ren didn't know that Bason was afraid of cats.

He wish he had known.

For he was stuck. Utterly stuck to the ground, unable to move when he should have been fighting with Hao. Ren glowered.

Just because Hao's spirit was a cat, Bason couldn't fight.

Ren had to fix that problem of Bason's. Who ever heard of a spirit that was afraid of cats anyway?

----------

Ren had no idea how he could train Bason to not be afraid of cats. The first thought that came to mind was to throw Bason into a room full of cats and let him struggle in there. However, Bason quickly pleaded against that, for his fear of cats resulted from that very same reason. He had been thrown into a room full of cats when he was young...and he certainly didn't want to repeat that horrible experience. Rather than ease his problem, it would only make it worse.

So, Ren was now stuck with the problem of how to train Bason. If he couldn't throw Bason into a room full of cats, then what could he do? Throw him into the zoo with the tigers and the lions? But Bason wasn't afraid of those giant felines....he was afraid of their cute, fluffy counterparts. House cats.

Ren had no choice but to go to the only person that he could trust on this subject. His sister, Jun.

He approached her with a terrible blush on his face. It was as if he was going to confess to his sister that he had someone he liked rather than tell her about Bason's fear. Nonetheless, Jun listened with a smile and clapped her hands together when he finished.

"I know the perfect way to cure that!"

With those words, Jun took Ren with her to the nearest pet store. Bason, knowing that he wouldn't be able to stand staying with his young master inside the store, timidly remained just outside the door. Inside the store, the two took their time looking at the various kittens.

Jun picked up a fluffy white kitten. "How's this kitten? It's cute, ne?"

With his piercing, golden eyes, Ren stared at the kitten. The kitten gave a pitiful "mew," as it shrank away from Ren's intense stare.

Ren shook his head. "Che. It's a scaredy cat."

Jun giggled softly. "Well, that might be a good thing. It'll surely be a very kind kitten, one that Bason can handle."

Ren chose to ignore that comment as he looked away from the pure white kitten in Jun's hands. His gaze landed on a black kitten that was sitting far away from the others. Its darkness contrasted sharply with the white kittens there. Ren bent down to look more closely at the kitten. The kitten, as if it sensed someone looking at it, turned its head up.

Ren was slightly startled to see the pair of orange yellow eyes staring back at him.

He pointed to the black kitten. "I want that one."

Jun smiled. "I see. It acts like you."

Ren immediately reddened as he sputtered, "No it does not!" For how could a tiny, little kitten ever act like the great Tao Ren?

Nevertheless, all Jun did was smile at Ren's reaction as she bought the little black kitten. "Now, all we have to do is let Bason take care of the kitten."

Easier said than done.

When Jun presented Bason with the kitten, Bason blinked as he started drifting behind his young master. He peeked from behind Ren's back.

"Is that what I think it is?"

Meanwhile, Ren closed his eyes, extremely annoyed with Bason. "Bason..." warned Ren. Ren stepped away from Bason's cowering form, exposing him to the mewing kitten.

"Go ahead and pet it," commanded Ren.

Bason gulped and drifted forward tentatively. He reached out with a shaking finger. He shut his eyes tightly, his finger slowly inching forward toward the kitten. Slowly...slowly...closer...almost there...and...

"Ouch!" Bason's eyes flew open as he quickly retracted his finger. He immediately flew behind Ren, once again hiding behind his young master. The kitten bit him! The kitten actually bit him...he was a spirit...but the kitten bit him...that proved exactly how dangerous cats were...

Ren stared up at the sky, as if asking why he was stuck with a spirit that feared such cute, fluffy creatures. He wondered if his sister's idea of letting Bason raise a cat was really such a good idea. Ren himself had never considered raising a kitty as training...but at the look of things, this so called "training" was the hardest training Bason had ever experienced, for Bason still had a long way to go.

Despite Bason's whimpering complaints about the kitty, Ren had to take it with them to where they were staying right now. His sister had bought the kitty after all, so there was no way that Ren would let Bason out of this matter.

Bason was going to train, and train he would. Even if that training included raising kittens...then so be it.

However, when Jun approached him with a mischievous smile and the kitty in her hands, Ren seriously doubted why he ever agreed to get that kitty. He even doubted if it had been a good idea to ask her for help. He cautiously looked at the black kitty, wondering what his sister was planning now. The kitten purred and nestled back into Jun's hands, as if it was the owner and not the other way around. Kisama...

"Ne, Ren, let's name the kitty!"

Ren froze. That couldn't be good. He had to stop her--

"How about Chibi Ren?"

Ren closed his mouth, his previous words swallowed. He blinked as his face reddened.

"Or Ren-chama?"

His face reddened even more.

"Or Neko Ren?"

His face, if possible, turned so red that it matched the redness of his silk shirt. He tried to work his mouth to form his protest, since Jun's suggestions had utterly shocked him into silence.

"No..." mumbled Ren.

"Absolutely no!"

-----end side chapter 1-----