Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, although I wished I did, and I don't own the oracle bells, but I do own a drawing of them I did . However, I do own Rika Suika, Mika Kinya and Freya Hoshikage, and any other character who isn't a part of the Shaman King series, but appears in this story.

A/N: Hey everybody! And welcome to the first Shaman King story that I have actaully had the guts to publish! Okay, I actually wrote this a few months ago, but seeing as my laptop is on the blink, I've had to completely rewrite it! Anyway, this is my first actually my first SK FF but, over on Fiction Press dot net, I have a SK story that isn't really an SK story, so if any of you are interested, its call "Toshiro's story"

This story is ever so slightly AU, in that Yoh and Anna have been going to separate schools by the way. And also, this is a year after the series ends, with the main characters being around 15 now. And Anna is VERY OOC from the series, as she is older and has become a helluva lot less of an ice-queen. Well... to friends anyway - oh, and one more thing, this chapter isn't gonna be big on action and stuff. Its more like... setting the scene, introduction to characters, that sorta thing. Anyway, ENJOY!

Chapter One - Acedemics

Yoh gazed out of the window, for once up early and able to relax this morning. It was a Monday morning, and it was finally September, which meant only one thing - a return to Funbari Hill Academy, now as a second year student. It's not that he wasn't looking forward to going back, but the last summer holiday had really changed his life in ways that nobody could imagine but him. After all, no other fifteen year old had a fianceé who they would have chosen, no matter whether it had been pre-arranged or not. Things between himself and Anna had definitely changed. He found himself thinking of the blonde teenager who he lived with as he fingered the gold ring that lay around a chain on his neck. It was glowing a light blue colour, assuring him that everything was alright.

Feeling rather than hearing the appearance of his spiritual ally and one of his closest friends, Amidamaru, Yoh turned around, a smile on his face. "Good morning Amidamaru." he said lightly, pulling the window down to retain some of the air in his now, almost freezing bedroom. He turned around to face Amidamaru and smiled once more, walking over to the wardrobe in one corner of his room where he knew his uniform was located. It wasn't the same as the green uniform that he had practically lived in during the Shaman tournament. This uniform consisted of a black pair of trousers, a pair of shoes of the student's choice (but sneakers were the preferred choice of the school), a white shirt with purple lines bordering the collar, sleeves and hem, a purple and silver tie (which Yoh still didn't own) and a purple blazer with the school crest in silver. Yoh's choice of shoes were a typically orange pair of converses, simply because they were the most comfortable shoes that he owned, even though they clashed with the uniform horribly.

"Good morning Yoh-dono." replied Amidamaru, watching his friend as he pulled out his uniform from the cupboards and shook them out to remove any dust that they could have picked up since he last wore them in July. Looking over the very familiar clothes, he sighed before throwing them down on his futon and heading out of the room to the bathroom, hoping to wake himself up fully with a shower.


Yawning, Yoh made his way down the stairs, dressed and ready with his headphones in their rightful place and his oracle bell on his forearm. As the one thing he had remaining to remind him of the Shaman fight he was in, he wore it everywhere. Nobody locally understood why save for Manta and Anna, and he would never explain why. So they just took it for granted that it was just one of the things that made Yoh tick. His heavy schoolbag suspended from the other arm which he dropped as he reached the corridor.

Entering the kitchen, Yoh was met by the sight of his fianceé, Anna Kyoyama. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail that reached down to the small of her back, a certain change from the Anna of two years ago who had preferred to keep her hair short, and he recognised the chain around her neck, identical to his down to the last detail, save for the colour of the ring around her neck, which was currently glowing a light orange and her usual collection of blue itako beads, which these days, she never seemed to take off. "Good morning Anna." said Yoh, smiling as he walked behind her and picked out an orange for Yoh walked past behind her and immediately pulled out an orange and began to cut it into quarters. "How did you sleep?"

Anna smiled, a rarity in the past but now it was all too common. Yoh really had been rubbing off on her. "Very well thank you. Although I was kinda nervous about today. I mean, first day jitters." she said, watching Yoh as he walked over to the table, putting the orange peices on a nearby plate to stop him from dropping him. It was no secret that he could be a bit of a klutz. Sitting down, he looked up at her, a quizzical look on his face. "Well, its the first day. I'm allowed to be nervous." It was only then that he noticed what she was wearing, and he almost dropped the orange piece that he was about to eat in shock.

Her outfit consisted of a white shirt with purple outline around the collar and sleeves. As she stood, he could see the shirt ending in two 'tails' that came out over the black pleated skirt she was wearing that came down to her knees. On her feet were black flat shoes, rather that the heels that had become popular amongst girls lately. Yoh thanked the gods for that one. As a short guy himself, having a girlfriend (or in this case fianceé, however secret) who was taller than him would have been... interesting. But the fact that she was wearing the uniform of the school that Yoh and Manta had been in attendance of for the last year... it would be interesting, after all, the three had never been to school together before.

"You... you're..." started Yoh, staring at the uniform that she was wearing, then staring down at his own to make sure that he was wearing almost exactly the same thing. Shaking himself mentally, Yoh looked back up at her. "You're coming to Funbari Hill Academy!?!?!" Anna didn't bother responding verbally, but instead responded only with a nod of the head. "Since when?! And why didn't you tell me? You never tell me anything!" Yoh stopped for a moment and looked over at Anna, her face expressionless. He took a breath. "I guess I would've just liked to know." Just as Anna was about to speak, he doorbell rang and Yoh was out of there faster than you can say 'come in', knowing that it was Manta, ready to walk to school with his two friends.

Quickly making his way over to the door, Yoh pulled it open to reveal the small stature of his best friend and his first human friend, Manta Oyamada. He had grown, granted, over the last almost-two-years and was now at a much more reasonable height than he had been before. Also, he was cradling various bags of stuff, signalling one of three things. His mother or father had gotten sick of his constant friendship with Yoh and had kicked him out... again, his parents were out of town again and they didn't trust him in the house alone at his age, or Manta needed to get away for a while. Often, his visits came at the most random of times, and there was no longer a need to ask to stay over, as he was eagerly welcomed by Yoh and Anna.

"Good morning Yoh!" said Manta as Yoh stepped aside for him to enter the inn.

Yoh smiled down at his friend as he watched him put his things down, slightly away from the door for him to take upstairs upon their return from school. "I hope you don't mind Yoh, but can I stay over for a few nights? I need to get away from my parents for a while - they're being too overpowering again." said Manta, pulling a face at the mention of his parents. It was no secret between the friends that the Oyamada family were one-track minded. Either Manta did great in school in order to inherit the family business as the oldest member of his generation, or he was disowned.

"You know, Manta, that you don't have to ask to stay over here." replied a female voice from behind Yoh, seemingly out of nowhere. "Your room is in the same place it always has been. We'll help you move your stuff upstairs after school if you want." continued Anna, walking past Yoh and over to the shoe-rack. She pulled out a pair of quite dirty orange converses that belonged to Yoh, which she instantly threw over to him. She then went to get their schoolbags while Yoh put on his shoes. It wasn't till then that Manta noticed the change in uniform for her, from green to purple.

"Anna, are you starting at Funbari Hill Academy today?" asked Manta, a lot less shocked than Yoh had been about the subject. After seeing Anna's nod, he continued. "Okay...cool." he said, a little hesitantly. "We...uh... we should go or we'll be late."

And with that, they left for their first day of their second year.


Approaching the large stone building, you could easily hear the sounds of pupils catching up with each other, talking about their summer holidays and asking what everybody else had done in theirs. Reaching the gates, they walked through and into the crowd of teeangers who had congregated outside the school, all of them slowly but surely making themselves into the school. Squeezing their way through group upon group of girls checking their make-up, boys talking about soccer, football or any other sport going, a gang of boys and girls who's uniforms were almost as different as you could get, and a small group of kids with glasses, braces and laptops under their arms for the world to see (they were being closely followed by a group of shady looking teenagers), they finally reached the familiar open doors that led into the building.

"There are a lot of... gangs in this school, aren't there?" asked Anna, obviously amazed at what she had just seen. It was widely known among the local teenagers that Anna's previous school, Funbari High, was relatively group free, and everybody socialised with everybody else. Here though... here things were different. You were judged for everything, from hair colour, to the things you wore on home clothes days, to your grades, the way you talked, the things you had, the place that you lived... the list went on. It was hard to get close to anybody in a different 'class' to you. It was just like British politics (A/N: Yes, I am aware of the fact that I just downplayed the British government. As a Brit, I have a right. They suck).

Yoh smiled his usual, carefree smile. "Its alright, you get used to it. Once you're settled, its not as intimidating as it looks!"

"Yeah, says Mr Popular." replied Manta, rolling his eyes at his best friend. "You're 'in' with every group going Yoh! They all look up to you! You're like... the most popular guy in school!"

There was a pause, in which Anna stopped and looked at Yoh for a moment, Manta simply looked at Yoh with an almost angry look on his face, and Yoh simply looked confused. Then Manta and Yoh began to laugh, leaving Anna as confused as ever. Knowing that, in the state of laughter they were in, there was no way that she would ever find out where she was supposed to be today, she dragged them in the general direction of what she thought was the front desk, hoping that she wasn't going in the completely wrong direction. Pushing through all the teachers that were waiting for thier new ID passes, the trio finally made it to the front of hte long line of people waiting and consulted the secretary.

Manta, although he was the shortest, spoke up for the group. "Excuse me, would it be possible to pick up our class schedules plesae?" he asked, very politely to the blonde woman who was sitting behind the desk and computer.

"Sure!" said the secretary. She was obviously new, and had not yet learned that being nice to the students often got you nowhere - by the second week most of them were rude, old, and it was impossible to have a decent conversation with them. It was more like... well, they talked at you insted of to you. She appeared to be in her early twenties, not much older than the students who went to the school. Her brown hair was left loose, and was about the same length as Anna's was now. Her eyes were peircing blue, and there was a sparkle there. One that disappeared afer a few weeks working as a secretary... well, after looking at Mrs Sugisaki, it was what you could assume. "Can I have your names please?" They gave their names, and Yoh and Manta were first to recieve theirs, however, Anna's was a problem. "I don't appear to have any record for Miss Kyoyama..."

"This is my first day here, could that be why?" replied Anna, being relatively civil to the woman.

Checking through her computer files once more for information on Anna, and even at one point calling on the very ill-tempered Mrs Sugisaki, she believed Anna's reasoning to be correct, and told the boys to go ahead with their schedules, leaving her to sort Anna out and allow her to choose her options. Bidding the only female member of their trio goodbye, Manta and Yoh set off to their homeroom, comparing their class schedules as they went. Happy that they had both ended up in almost all the same classes (the single exception was that Yoh was in Math I and Manta was in Math II), they arrived at their homeroom.

Currently, there was no teacher, and the room was a lot less divided than the groups of people had been outside. Usually, that group was made up of first years, just out of the Junior High part of the school. It freaked out the older students to think that just a year ago, they were all like that. Separated. Now, they were a lot more like a community. Civil, at least, to each other. Most people were sitting at desks, turned around to speak to the friends who they hadn't seen since the previous July. However, there was a large congregation of girls sitting around three others, who were famous among the second years. Rika Suika, a fifteen year old girl who wasn't really all that bright, but knew how to make herself, and others, look good, Mika Kinya, a smart and pretty girl, who was the brains of the so-called 'operation' and Freya Hoshikage, their leader. Her surname meant 'starlight' and that was what she wanted to stand in. She wanted to be a star in her own right, and was one of the prettiest girls in the year. Most guys wanted to date her, most girls wanted to be her.

Typically, Yoh and Manta chose their seats relatively close to the back of the room, Yoh leaving a space on his right-side for Anna when she finally turned up. They were greeted by various of their classmates as they passed by to get to their desks, including Neka Miyamoto, the one girl that Manta actually found relatively attractive out of anybody in their entire school. Obviously, this had been a cause for laughter at Manta's expense by Yoh and various other parties, but this year his liking for the girl had quickly cleared up, especially after experiencing the life of a Shaman with Yoh, and now being one himself (although he was in the very early stages of training)... going out with Neka was something that would be almost impossible for him.

Very quickly, they heard the bell ring, signalling the start of the first class of the year. For most students, this was a free period in which they were able to check any abnormalities in their timetables and catch up with friends. However, Yoh and Manta were called down to the principal's office. Knowing that they had done nothing wrong in the first few minutes of school starting, they went down to the office with their heads held high, talking about their expectations for the year. They didn't want another hectic year like last year, with Yoh almost failing because he missed so many classes because of Shaman related things, and Manta missing almost twice as many because of numerous family related problems. Being welcomed in the room, they saw Anna sitting in front of the principal. Obviously the principal was interested in finding out about her before letting her loose on the rest of the school.

It was a few minutes before he noticed Manta and Yoh standing in the shadows behind Anna. "Ah, Mr. Oyamada and Mr. Asakura. Would you like to take a seat?" asked Mr. Nakadai, a smile on his face. He was young for a school principal, mid-thirties maybe and he was always as nice as possible to the students. Sitting down, Yoh beside Anna and Manta on the other side of Yoh, Mr. Nakadai began. "Right, from speaking to Miss Kyoyama, I have determined that you know each other from before, correct?" he asked, receiving a nod from Yoh and Manta. "Alright then, I won't feel guilty about making this snap decision - Yoh, I want you to help Miss Kyoyama find her way around, and make sure to steer her away from the more... diverse student population."

"Yes Sir." Replied Yoh automatically, knowing exactly what he meant by 'diverse'. They were the students who were... not really the best in any sense. They were the students who constantly bunked off school, and when they did come in, they disrupted classes, drew on school property and spent their lives trying to rig the door of the staff room to lock the teachers out. Also, there were the kids who were so weird, that they thought they were seeing things that weren't really there, such as spirits. They spent a lot of time with the school psychiatrist. What Mr. Nakadai didn't know, was that Yoh, Manta and Anna were a part of that 'diverse' class. They were just smart enough to know that they weren't to discuss their Shamanism in front of normal people who would consider them insane.

"Alright then, with that done, you are free to go. Have a good day, you three." said the principal, dismissing them from his office.

Yoh and Manta quickly took a look at Anna's proposed timetable, which was exactly the same as Yoh's, with her being put in Math I because the school were not aware of her past Math grades. And so, they led her off on a tour of the school before their real first class started.


The lunch hour had finally rolled around, and Anna, Yoh and Manta were in the lunch-room with the rest of the school, thankfully tucking in to a lunch that Anna had made that morning with all the free time that she had had. The school food wasn't at all appetizing. It usually constructed of some kind of meat (usually unidentifiable), a load of vetetables or salads, just as identifiable. So really a packed lunch was really the safer option. Just as Yoh. Manta and Anna had submerged themselves in conversation, they were interrupted by the appearance of three very familiar girls, Rika, Mika and Freya.

"Yoh! Oh my goodness, I haven't seen you in forever! How was your summer holiday?" That was Freya. It was widely known that Freya had a crush on Yoh. He was one of the most athletic boys in the school, and with the added value of him being genuinely nice, he was one of the most attractive to her. However, Yoh was either completely clueless, or blantantly not interested due to him already having a fianceé who he loved more that anybody else.

Yoh smiled, without a single show of falseness. He was good at that. "Hi Freya, I had a great holiday, improved a lot of stuff..." he said, looking over at Anna, smiling over at her. He notiiced that she flushed slightly, a small smile on her face, before he turned back to Freya. "How was yours?" he asked.

"Oh, it was great! I went swimming in the Caribbean, I went to sooo many exclusive parties and stuff, I met some famous people too when I went to California, and... wow, it was amazing!" she said, smiling and laughing as she remembered everything she had done. Her holiday didn't measure up to Yoh's at all in the sense of what she did. She had done all that whilst Yoh had spent most of his time with Anna and Manta around the inn. Occasionally they went out to fairs, amusement parks or anything else that they could find to do that would pass the time. And over that summer, Yoh and Anna had gotten considerably closer. They had finally shared their first kiss, and Yoh had truly propsosed to her, with the connection rings that were now around gold chains and they wore around their necks, glowing to signify the other's mood.

Manta chipped in. "Sounds like you had fun..." he said.

Mika and Rika, who were yet to join in the conversation fully, looked down at Manta after he had spoken as if he was something that had just crawled out of a grave. A feeling which Manta was able to associate with... after all, he had seen many a skeleton crawl out of its own grave... the memories of that fight still made him shudder to this day. "Yeah, I like, totally did." she said, not really paying all that much attention to Manta in the first place, before turning around to see Anna sitting next to Yoh. "And Yoh, who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Anna." he said. "We've known each other since before I can remember."

"Yoh and I grew up in Izumo together. Our families are very close." She looked up at this girl with a feeling of contempt. There was something about this girl that she didn't quite like. Something that wasn't right. She started to finger the blue rosary beads that were around her neck, before Yoh noticed and stopped her. She put on a fake smile, simply to appear to be friendly to the girl. "It's nice to meet you." continued the Itako.

Freya looked over Anna, and saw one word all over her. 'Competition'. Throughout the school, everybody knew that you don't compete with Freya when it comes to boys or anything of the sort. However, Anna was new, and didn't know those rules. And there was no way that she was going to lose out getting Yoh, no matter what. This girl, had to be gotten rid of, and soon. "Anyway, we'd better be heading off, we have to go and see a man about a group." said one of the girls in the background, Rika.

"Yeah, we'll see you around Yoh. See you Manta, Anna." said the other girl, Mika. She was the nicest and most genuine girl in the group and truthfully, she was the only one that Yoh and Manta actually liked. When she was away from Rika and Freya, it was actually possible to have a decent conversation with her, and she certainly knew her stuff. She often had helped Yoh out of a tough spot in science class as they had been lab partners the previous year.

As they walked away, the trio simply watched them. Anna, had just potentially met her first real enemy.

END

A/N: Okay, that was exceedingly long, but I just needed to get that chapter out of my system. Also, I know that this idea has probably been done about a million times before, but later on, I'm hoping that this story will come into its own! So, I hope you have enjoyed reading the first chapter of my FIRST Shaman King fic to be published, and leave me some love so I know how I'm doing!

Thanks! Much Love

xXx X-Roosterrelli-X xXx