My first Shaman King Fanfic! And the first thing I've submitted in over about two years! Dang… Anyway, I started writing thing before I knew A LOT about Shaman King, so if something's off, don't flame me. I screwed with the storyline of the show (I always seem to in my fics. . ;;) Hao makes no appearance (Well, not for awhile at least), and the Shaman Tournament hasn't taken place yet. Oh, and Yoh has a sister.

DISCLAIMER: Ahem, I don't own any of the Shaman King characters in this story besides the ones I made up. So there.

"Mmm, what a great day, nothing can beat that warm sunshine!" Yoh Asakura said happily, stretching his arms high above his head.

"Well, you're certainly cheerful today, aren't you, Yoh-dono?" said Amidamaru as he floated along beside him.

"Isn't he always?" commented Manta Oyamada.

"Hehe, maybe, but this sort of day puts me in an even better mood," Yoh smiled at them.

"My mood would be better without all of the math homework we have tonight," said Manta.

"Why do you have to worry?" Yoh said to his friend. "You'll get it done in five minutes," he kicked at a rock on the ground, "but I have to go through Anna's training program too."

"Oh, yeah, kinda' forgot about that."

"Oh well!" he smiled again at the sky. "That means that dinner will taste even better after a good workout!"

"Always the optimistic one, Yoh-dono," said Amidamaru with a smile.

"Well, with Anna the Rain Cloud, someone has to be," Manta added.

Yoh laughed as they turned into the front gate of the house.

"Hey, we're home!" Yoh called as they entered through the front door and pulled their shoes off. "Anna?" he peeked around the corner, but didn't see her in the hallway. "Humph, I wonder where she is. I thought she would've been back from school before us."

"Well, no Anna means no training," Manta said.

Yoh grinned.

"Then let's get that math homework done so we can have some relaxation time."

They started down the hall towards Manta's room with their bags, but what they didn't hear was a door slide open behind them and see Anna step out into the hallway.

"And where do you think you're going?" she said.

"Uwaagh!?" they cried, jumping in surprise.

"Oh, um, Anna," Yoh said, turning slowly with a nervous grin and rubbing his neck, "we were just going to get some homework done."

"I don't think so; there are more important things to do."

"Like training?" Yoh asked slowly.

"No, not that either. There's a visitor here to see you."

"A visitor for Yoh? Who is it?" Manta asked.

"If you're done standing here talking you can go into the next room and see," Anna answered.

Without another word, Anna turned and went back through the door she had come out of. Manta and Yoh looked at each other, blinked, shrugged, and followed after her. They came into the sitting room and found a young woman they had never seen before. It took them only a moment to realize that she was a ghost like Amidamaru. A ghost she may have been, but she was also a pretty young ghost. Her dark green hair was pulled back into a ponytail that stuck up vertically from her head and she was dressed in dark colored samurai robes. There was something familiar about her, but Yoh couldn't put his finger in what it was.

"Um, hi there, can I help you?" Yoh said to her.

"I hope you can. You are Asakura Yoh, are you not?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Thank goodness," she sighed in relief. "I have been searching for you here in Tokyo the past few days."

"Searching for me? Why is that?"

"Well, you see…"

"Yoh-dono, are you in here?"

Amidamaru has just floated into the room.

"Oh, there you are. I was not sure where you had…"

Amidamaru's were cut short as he caught sight of the newcomer ghost in the room. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, almost transfixed.

"I-Izumi-ko!?" he finally blurted out.

"Hello, Amidamaru-kun," she said quietly with a smile. "It has been a long time."

"How…How…"

Yoh looked at his ghost friend. His eyes were open wide and he seemed at a loss for words.

"Please, Yoh-dono," she said as her attention turned back to him, "my name is Izumi Minayahara. I come to you with word from your family."

"Izumi," Yoh mouthed to himself. And that's when it hit him. "Agh, that's it! Now I remember who you are! You're Yasume's ghost yojimbo!"

"Yasume?" Manta questioned aloud, and then leaned towards Anna. "Who's Yasume?"

But Anna didn't answer him and kept her eyes on Izumi.

"Yes, I am, and the news I bring concerns your sister."

"Uwaagh!? Sister!?" Manta cried.

"Yoh-dono has a sister?" Amidamaru said in surprise.

"Huh? You didn't know?" Yoh looked at them over his shoulder.

"Of course we didn't!" shouted Manta.

"You never told them you had a sister?" Anna said, her eyebrows narrowing at Yoh. "That's a pretty important thing to forget to mention, isn't it?"

"I'll say it is!" Manta cried again. "Why didn't you ever tell me!?"

"Guess it just never crossed my mind to mention her," he grinned sheepishly and grabbed at the back of his neck. "I suppose that is a stupid thing to forget. Now's a good a time as any though. Let's sit down."

Manta, Anna, and Yoh all sat around the table as Izumi and Amidamaru floated close by.

"Ya' see, Yasume's my younger sister."

"How much younger is she than you?" Manta asked.

"Just slightly, about half a year. She lives in Izumo on Mount Sanbe with the rest of our family."

"If she's your sister, then that makes her a Shaman too, right?"

"Yep," Yoh nodded.

"What kind of Shaman technique does she study?"

"Izumi follows the same Shaman way as Yoh does, trying to learn all of the Shaman techniques there are."

"You know Yoh's sister, Anna?" Manta asked her.

"Of course I know Yasume. I've know Yoh a lot longer than you have."

"Izumi," Yoh said, turning back to the ghost, "why are you here about Yasume? Is something wrong? Is she alright?"

"I'm afraid that all is not well with your sister."

"Why? What's happened?"

"You of course know of the Nobuhiro family?" she said.

"Nobuhiro?" Manta inquired.

"They are a family with a longstanding line of Shamans in their lineage," Izumi answered him.

"What does the Nobuhiro family have to do with it?" Yoh asked, his face getting more serious by the moment.

"It seems that one of the successors of the family, Eiichiro Nobuhiro, has kidnapped Yasume-dono."

"What!?" Yoh exclaimed. "When did this happen!?"

"Several weeks ago," Izumi said as she looked at the floor sadly. "Yasume-dono disappeared while training alone in the woods on the mountainside. Your family searched for her until they received word from Eiichiro that he had Yasume-dono and was unwilling to release her. Then I was sent to find you, Yoh-dono."

"But why would this man want to kidnap Yoh-dono's sister?" Amidamaru asked.

"The Nobuhiro and the Asakura families have been rivals for hundreds of years," Yoh leaned against one hand and smacked the other loudly on the table. "Damn, it's just like them to do something like this."

"But if she was taken, then how did you get here?" Manta asked Izumi.

"I was sent here by Yasume-dono herself, not the Asakura family. That is why it was so urgent that I find you quickly, Yoh-dono. Sending me out to find you weakens her because of it."

"Why would it do that?" Manta asked again.

"Usually it would not, but Eiichiro has put some manner of spell on her so she could not send me out, but…"

"But she did anyway," Yoh finished. "Trying to fight off a spell like that can be very straining if it was cast by a powerful enough Shaman. Since she did, it means she's gotten stronger, but it also means that she was desperate. We were always taught not to fight those spells if they were cast unless it was absolutely necessary."

"I am sorry I had to come to you on such grave terms, Yoh-dono," Izumi apologized solemnly, looking at the floor again.

"No, I'm glad you came," he stood up and looked at her. "You should get back to Yasume. Tell her not to worry, and that I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thank you, Yoh-dono, I will," Izumi smiled thankfully. "I am sure that will give her hope. Now I must return. Please hurry, Yoh-dono."

"Don't worry, I will."

And just like that, Izumi was gone. Manta looked up at Yoh. There weren't many times when he looked at serious as he did then.

"Yoh, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," he looked down at him and grinned slightly. "Well, looks like we'll be able to skip that math homework tonight."

Well, end of chapter one. Review would be appreciated if you please! Chapter two up as soon as I can finish it.