Hikari: Ohayo Minna-San!

Yoh: Hiya!

Hikari: This is my latest writing thingy story. And it's centered around Yoh!

Yoh: Cuz she loves me the most. Haha!

Ren: You're acting as stupid as Ainu-Baka.

Yoh: That's not nice.

Hikari: So yeah, to ignore them. I got this idea because I saw this picture and made a stupid mistake and then this story came out. I'm writing another kinda similar one, so yeah. I hope people enjoy this story.

Yoh And Ren: And Hikari Aiko owns none of us or Shaman King, or the picture that inspired her to write this story.

Until Death Did Us Part

Chapter One

Broken Headphones

Snap came the sound of something cracking. Ren leaned against the door to try and figure out just what had been broken inside the other room. Of course, this was really a useless quest, seeing as it could have been anything.

Ren shook his head slowly and began to walk away from the room, until he heard the familiar low sniffling sound of his best friend. What did he do now, Ren thought as he turned back around to listen at the door once more. Maybe his friend would come out, maybe not. All Ren could do was stand there and wait for him to make some move.

See, Ren knew better than to go into the room. Either Anna would come up behind him and attack him, or, if he actually got into the room, something would immediately been thrown in his direction. He had tried this before, and had finally just given up. He was doing no help in provoking his friend.

"Still listening are we," Anna whispered as she came up beside the Tao.

"Yes," Ren replied in an equally quiet tone.

"Well," Anna started. "I suggest you stop. He'll come out when he's good and ready to."

"But he hasn't eaten in five days now," Ren protested, finally showing some of his pent up worry. But only to Anna, only to her, because they were so similar. They both knew how to look strong even when they did not feel it. And that gave Ren an intense respect for the Itako. And that respect led to him being able to openly show his emotions in front of her without worrying of the consequences.

"Stop groveling," Anna sighed, rolling her eyes. "It does you no good, and is not a very appealing look if someone else were to see you. Now, go to bed. You're even more irritable now because of your lack of sleep."

"You're the only one other than Jun who I'll listen to on your offer and ignore your insult," Ren growled slightly.

"Quiet," Anna hissed. "He can't know we're out here."

"Fine," Ren grumbled, he was fairly tired and to him, he felt like he was acting more like Horo than himself. Upon coming to this conclusion, he quickly went off to bed, no sense in acting any more like that Ainu Baka than he was already.

Anna watched his retreating form until she heard a door open and close, and then she finally turned away and went back to her own room. Another sleepless night was ahead of her, she knew that Ren was only the first of the mid-night visitors.

A small nap never hurt anything, Horo thought as he leaned against the wall. It was late, but he could not sleep, not after what he had been hearing in the night.

He knew he was the second visitor, and that Ren had been the first. He could hear him and Anna arguing quietly outside this very door. And now he was the second, and soon he knew he would have to go back to his own room and try to sleep. It would be just like all the other nights.

"Horo," Anna snapped in a quiet tone. "Back in bed, now."

"Anna, please," Horo tried.

"I'm not going to tell you again," Anna said, her anger rising despite her still quiet voice. Horo could tell that she had not slept these past five days, he could see it in her eyes, even if the light was dim.

"I just want to make sure he's alright," Horo tried once more.

"You are just as bad as the rest Horokeu," Anna sighed, leaning against the wall. "And you're going to drive me insane. I can't keep doing this every night. I can't keep making all of you go away. And leave him in peace."

"We're all just worried Anna," Horo said, noting that she had used his first name in her annoyance. "And we just want to see him. It's been five days since he even came out."

"And he won't come out with all of you standing around out here like idiots," Anna said, trying to keep her cool. The lack of sleep was really affecting everyone's personalities, more so Anna and Ren than all the others.

"You should go to sleep too then," Horo suggested.

"More are still going to come," Anna sighed, bringing her hand up to lightly touch her forehead. "And I have to stop them from disturbing him. He needs this time to be alone. Now, please go to sleep Horokeu."

Horo gave a small nod and walked off in the direction of the room he shared with his sister. Anna had used his first name and said please, she really did need sleep.

Horo arrived at the door to his room and slid it open. Pirika was waiting patiently on her futon for his return. He nodded slowly to her, like he had the other nights and climbed into his futon. Time for another sleepless night to surround him. At least he had his sister to keep him comapny.

Maybe tonight, thought Manta as he tip-toed up to his friend's room. He could hear sounds like stifled sobs on the other side. And in truth, it made his very being ache, he had been so good to him, so kind. To hear his friend so hurt like this, it made him want to cry right along with him.

"Maybe after this I can try for some sleep," Anna sighed, coming up beside the short blonde and waking him from his deep contemplation. "You know you're the third one tonight?"

"I could hear the other two," Manta confessed. "Ren was first and then Horo."

"Correct," Anna said wearily. She had developed a liking for the short blonde, so she sank down next to him, not caring about showing her exhaustion. It was too hard to hide now anyways, so she might as well show it to someone who would care.

"You should go to bed," Manta said, standing up so he could face Anna eye-to-eye. "You look exhausted.

"I am," Anna said with annoyance laced in her tone. "But as long as all of you keep coming out here, I can't sleep. I have to send all of you back."

"As long as we're quiet we do no harm," Manta protested almost silently to try and prove his point.

"If he comes out and sees all of you waiting around, he'll go right back inside, I know it," Anna stated.

"We'll never really know until he comes out," Manta said, happy at his clever idea.

"Manta," Anna sighed. "I'm not going to argue this out. Everyone is tired and cranky here and I'll admit that I am too, and your coming to stand outside his door in the middle of the night really isn't helping matters. Now, please go to sleep."

"Anna," Manta whispered almost too low to hear. If Anna was even acting this polite, it was scary, but right now, Manta knew that she meant it. He nodded to her and without another word trudged down the hall to his room, trying to be quiet at the same time.

Anna sighed and went back to her room. She hoped that Manta would be the last one tonight, a little sleep would really be nice. It would really help right now, and it would definitely help her get through tomorrow.

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