lucathia

Title: Bason's Greatest Fear
Chapter: 3/?

Author: lucathia_rykatu
Email: rykatu@yahoo.com
Series: Shaman King
Genre: General / Humor / Fluff
Feedback: Please. :)
Spoilers: Hoshi ga Hoshii desu timeline, but reading of HgHd is not necessary
Archive: livejournal

Summary: Hoshi ga Hoshii desu sidefic, AKA "Those Cute Fluffy Creatures that go Nyaa." Tao Ren can go into any shaman fight claiming that he isn't afraid of anything. The problem wasn't him. It was his spirit. Bason's greatest fear, of all things, had to be cats.

-----side ch. 3: the horrible, horrible naming-----

Ren somehow made it back to his apartment in one piece. He had planned on visiting Yoh earlier that day, but once he learned of Bason’s embarrassing fear, those plans were thrown out the window. Despite Yoh’s invitation to see the opening of Funbari Onsens as an inn, there was no way he could visit in his present condition. Ren wouldn’t be able to relax until he was sure that Bason had gotten over his silly fear.

The problem hadn’t been overly complicated. Bason just froze at the sight of any house cat. That was all. When Ren was in Oversoul mode, he was frozen along with Bason. That wasn’t too bad, wasn’t it?

Yeah right.

Still, if the problem had just been getting Bason over his fear, it wouldn’t have been that BIG of a problem. But now, he made the problem even more complicated, for what he was going to do with an unwanted, obnoxious, milk-stealing, black kitten in his hands?

Bason was supposed to take care of the kitten as part of his training, but...

Ren glared at his spirit, who was at least 500 meters away from the kitten. It was very unlikely that Bason would even be able to get near the kitten.

And his sister was adamant about naming that kitten. Ren was terrified of the name his sister might give the kitten, for the three names that she had suggested were utterly, utterly embarrassing. But no matter how embarrassing the names were, Jun was his sister. Ren knew that he would have eventually given in to her demands.

When they finally arrived at their shared apartment, Jun had happily waltzed up to the telephone. Ren didn’t want to know who she was calling, nor did he want to know what she was talking about. He really didn’t want to know! But he couldn’t help but overhear her enthusiastic words as she talked over the phone. They didn’t sound good at all. Meanwhile, the little black kitten looked around pitifully. It seemed lost in the huge, spacious apartment. Ren closed his eyes. He had no other choice.

He flapped his hands in the light shining through the window, creating a shadow on the ground next to the kitten. The kitten, its attention now on the moving shadow, mewed and tried to capture the shadow under its paws. Ren smirked as he led his hands’ shadows away from the kitten, thus leading the kitten around in circles. The kitten intently followed the moving shadow with its head, wanting to pounce on the elusive shadow. However, every time the kitten swapped at the shadow, Ren would quickly dart his hands away.

Finally, Jun finished calling. She saw Ren teasing the kitten and smiled. Her little brother really did like the kitten after all. He just didn’t like showing it.

Once Ren noticed that Jun was looking his direction with a knowing smile on her face, Ren quickly retracted his hands from the light, his face a bit red. The kitten paused, wondering where the shadow went. With no shadow to chase, the kitten went towards Jun and started rubbing against her legs. Ren scowled.

Jun picked the kitten up and beckoned for Ren and Bason to come closer. Bason was beginning to go into his “freezing” mode. Ren sighed.

“Go Bason,” commanded Ren.

Bason nodded frigidly, demanding his floating self to move forward. It took all of his concentration to move himself an inch at a time. At least he was moving towards the kitten, however slowly.

Ren sighed once again as he willed himself to go near the kitten as well.

After waiting quite some time for Bason to reach where she stood, Jun smiled a bit. She ran her fingers through the kitten’s soft fur and started discussing her phone conversations with the other two.

“I called Pirika-chan and Tamao-chan just now to ask them what they thought were good names for the little black kitten. They were very enthusiastic about helping.” said Jun warmly.

Ren spluttered. “Why did you call them for?” Her sister alone came up with bad enough names...now two more females were going to torture him with unthinkable names!

Jun frowned. “Why not? They were excited about you and Bason raising a kitten!”

Ren sighed. Since when had it become “him and Bason” raising a kitten? He thought raising the kitten was Bason’s job! He couldn’t really argue with his sister though. “And so what did they suggest?” asked Ren finally.

Jun didn’t answer his question as she remembered something else. “Oh, and I also called Chocolove.”

“Chocolove? Why the heck did you call that comedian for?” Now Ren was really confused, for he could understand why his sister wanted to call Horo Horo’s sister and that blundering pink haired girl. They were girls and loved gushing over cute things, such as that black kitten. But why did she call Chocolove? He hoped that she didn’t call him for names. Ren dreaded any names coming from him.

Jun shrugged. “Well, since Chocolove’s spirit is a jaguar, I thought that he might have some more experience with felines. I was hoping he’d be able to help you and Bason out a bit.”

Ren shook his head vehemently. “Jaguars are way different from normal house cats! Besides, Bason isn’t afraid of Chocolove’s spirit.”

Jun waved her hand a bit. “That doesn’t matter. He also suggested some names. Here, let me show you the list of names I jotted down.”

She handed Ren the list, which was quite long. Ren glanced over it and started reading the names out loud.

“BF...” said Ren. “BF? Initials?”

Jun grinned. “That’s a nice name, isn’t it?” She pursed her lips. “I forgot who it came from...maybe Chocolove. Anyway, BF stands for Bason’s fear!”

Bason sweatdropped. He didn’t want to be reminded of his fear over and over again.

“Uh, I see.” Ren read the next name.

“Ny...Nyaa?” pronounced Ren finally as he blinked. That wasn’t a name! That was a noise!

Jun smiled. “Isn’t that name so cute?” Jun couldn’t help but giggle a bit when she heard her little brother try to pronounce that name. He sounded so cute with his confused voice.

“Um...I guess.” Ren glanced at the next name.

“Neko Ren! I thought I told you that I don’t want that kitten named after me!” exclaimed Ren.

Jun shrugged. “I did suggest that name earlier, didn’t I? But I jotted it down because Pirika-chan also thought that was a good name!”

“That sister of Horo Horo said that?” asked Ren unbelievingly. “Never mind...let’s move on.” He read the next name.

“Ren-chan? What’s with naming the kitten after me?” Ren breathed in deeply. He must not get flustered over these names! He continued with the next name. “Neko Bason?” At least they were moving away from him now! “Chibi Anna?” What the heck did Anna have anything to do with the kitten? Ren’s eyes widened as he read the next name. “What! Neko Horo Horo?” These names were getting more and more outrageous! Why would he ever name anything in his possession after that baka Ainu?

“Ah, that was Pirika-chan’s suggestion. She thought it’d be cute since you and her brother are such good friends.”

Ren shook his head hard. “No way I’m going name the kitten after him! I don’t want to be reminded of him every time I say that kitten’s name.” Ren shuddered at the thought. He quickly read the next name.

“Midnight...not a bad name.” Ren personally liked that name. At least it fit with the kitten’s color! “The same goes for Shadow and Blackie...I guess. Yoru has a nice ring to it to,” mused Ren.

Bason looked at the piece of paper from over his young master’s shoulder. “Bunny?” He forced himself to look at the kitten. That kitten was so not a bunny. Bunnies were cute, fluffy, and bouncy while that kitten was downright ferocious and dangerous. He mentally crossed off the next name as well, which was “Fluffy.”

Jun sighed. “Don’t you or Bason like any of the names so far?”

They both shook their heads.

Jun frowned as she read the names from the list. “Then how about Moonlight? Or Twilight? Or maybe even Starlight? Aren’t those names so elegant?”

Ren pointed at the kitten. “Does that thing even have an ounce of elegance in it?”

Jun sighed. “Don’t be so mean to the kitten!” She read the next few names. “Since you don’t like those, how about Neka? Kami-Neko? Oishi? Kuro Neko-sama? Kiku? Coco? Vortex? Coke? R-chan? Or-”

“Wait! R-chan? Why R-chan?” demanded Ren.

Jun grinned. “Well, you know...R for Ren!”

Ren sighed. They seemed adamant on naming the kitten after him one way or the other.

“Don’t like any of the names?”

Ren shook his head.

Jun shrugged as she continued. “Well, how about Ben?”

“Ben?” wondered Bason. “Isn’t that an English name? It’s so...plain.”

Jun giggled. “Yeah, but you know, B for Bason and EN for Ren!”

Both Bason and Ren sweatdropped.

Ren took the list from his sister. Were there any good names on this list at all? He winced as he read the next name. “Puddy Paws.” He blinked. “Puddy Paws?”

Jun beamed. “Isn’t that such a cute name?”

“Yeah...but that kitten isn’t cute at all!” muttered Bason.

Ren agreed as he read the next names. “Hakuoh. Kokuoh.”

Bason’s eyes widened. “I don’t want the kitten to be named after my horse.” He liked his horse...but he didn’t like the kitten.

Ren didn’t like the names either. Why would they name the kitten after horses? He moved on to the next names.

“Vamp?” Chaos no Hikari? Er...I guess those names are a bit more befitting for the kitten...it’s a little monster.” muttered Ren.

Jun pursed her lips. “We have to give the kitten a name, even if you don’t like any of them. Well, there are only two names left on the list now. Maybe you’ll like one of them.”

Bason read the names. “Reneko. Tora.”

“Not another name with my name in it!” exclaimed Ren.

“Then what about Tora?” asked Jun. “It’s a cute name, isn’t it?” Jun patted the kitten’s head. “It’s like a cute little tiger.”

“You got that right,” said Bason under his breath. “A ferocious, uncontrollable little beast.”

Ren shook his head once again.

Jun looked over the names again. “Together, Pirika, Tamao, Chocolove, and I brainstormed thirty-three names. You don’t like any of them?”

Ren glanced at the list, reading the names over once again. “BF, Nyaa, Neko Ren, Midnight, Bunny, Ren-Chan, Neka, Kami-Neko, Oishi, Ben, Fluffy, Hakuoh, Kokuoh, Vamp, Shadow, Kuro Neko Sama, Reneko, Neko Horo Horo, Neko Bason, Chibi Anna, Coco, Vortex, Coke, Tora, Kiku, Puddy paws, Moonlight, Twilight, Starlight, Chaos no Hikari, R-chan, Yoru, Blackie...eh...I don’t care any more. Why don’t you just name the kitten whatever you want to name it?” said Ren, slightly exasperated.

“Hm...I guess I should name it then...since you don’t care anymore.” Jun read the names again. “But I can’t decide! There are too many of them that I like.”

Ren rolled his eyes, his arms crossed. “Then name that damn kitten all thirty-three names then.”

Jun giggled. “Okay!”

“Yeah, that solves the prob-” Ren’s eyes widened as he turned wide eyes towards his sister. “Don’t tell me you really are going to name that kitten all thirty-three names?”

Jun smiled as she looked down at the kitten. “Yoroshiku, BF Nyaa Neko Ren Midnight Bunny Ren-Chan Neka Kami-Neko Oishi Ben Fluffy Hakuoh Kokuoh Vamp Shadow Kuro Neko Sama Reneko Neko Horo Horo Neko Bason Chibi Anna Coco Vortex Coke Tora Kiku Puddy Paws Moonlight Twilight Starlight Chaos no Hikari R-chan Yoru Blackie!

Ren and Bason sweatdropped.

As the commotion of naming the kitten passed, Ren yawned. It was time to go to sleep. Jun happily handed Ren the kitten.

“Ren, take BF Nyaa Neko Ren Midnight Bunny Ren-Chan Neka Kami-Neko Oishi Ben Fluffy Hakuoh Kokuoh Vamp Shadow Kuro Neko Sama Reneko Neko Horo Horo Neko Bason Chibi Anna Coco Vortex Coke Tora Kiku Puddy Paws Moonlight Twilight Starlight Chaos no Hikari R-chan Yoru Blackie to sleep! I’m sure the kitten will love sleeping with you.”

Ren dumbly held out his hands to hold the kitten.

Jun continued. “And don’t forget to make Bason take care of BF Nyaa Neko Ren Midnight Bunny Ren-Chan Neka Kami-Neko Oishi Ben Fluffy Hakuoh Kokuoh Vamp Shadow Kuro Neko Sama Reneko Neko Horo Horo Neko Bason Chibi Anna Coco Vortex Coke Tora Kiku Puddy Paws Moonlight Twilight Starlight Chaos no Hikari R-chan Yoru Blackie tomorrow!”

Ren felt a twitch coming. “Neesan...don’t you think you’re overdoing it with repeating all thirty-three names?”

Jun smiled. “Hm...I don’t find it tiring calling the kitten BF Nyaa Neko Ren Midnight Bunny Ren-Chan Neka Kami-Neko Oishi Ben Fluffy Hakuoh Kokuoh Vamp Shadow Kuro Neko Sama Reneko Neko Horo Horo Neko Bason Chibi Anna Coco Vortex Coke Tora Kiku Puddy Paws Moonlight Twilight Starlight Chaos no Hikari R-chan Yoru Blackie.” She giggled as Ren’s eyes widened. How was she even able to remember all those names and say them in the same order everytime?”

Jun smiled gently. “I’m just kidding. Well, you wouldn’t tell me what you wanted to name the kitten. So, do you know what you want to name the kitten now?”

Ren paused, thinking. As long as he didn’t have to repeat all thirty-three names every time he addressed the kitten, any name was fine with him now. Then, a thought hit Ren.

“Neesan, since you like all thirty-three names, I guess we should call the kitten Thirty-Three.”

Ren blushed as Jun smiled. Her little brother really did have a name in mind all this time.

Jun knelt down to eye-level with the kitten. “Once again, yoroshiku. Thirty-Three!”

The kitten mewed and snuggled in Ren’s hands.

-----to be continued-----