windy: This chapter is a bit longer than the last, but it was supposed to be even longer. A whole lot longer. I decided to split it in half, so you won't be able to find out what happens after the cliffhanger until the next update.

Ren: You do realize that you're telling them it ends in a cliffhanger even before they read it, right?

windy: Aw, crud! You're right! Now they won't want to read it!! -starts hyperventilating- What have I done!? What have I done?!

Ren: -turns around and walks away-

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Ren cautiously inched the bathroom door open, golden orbs searching the main room of their hotel for any sign of Jun. There was none. He opened the door. He wasn't exactly sure how long he had holed himself up in there, but he had wanted to make absolutely sure that Jun had left before he came out again.

He did not wish to deal with her soft, worrying ways right now. It would just irritate him further. Besides, she already knew his reasons for wanting to become Shaman King. She already knew he wanted to eradicate all of that fowl, disgusting disgrace called human kind. She was human too, after all. She was at least smart enough to have put two and two together by now. Being upset by such a stupid thing … She wasn't even worth talking to anyway.

And with that Ren pulled on a dark colored long-sleeve shirt and pants, stuffed his feet into his shoes, grabbed his briefcase, and left for a walk. It was now about 2:00 AM in the morning, but Ren could hardly have slept if he wanted to. None of that tension, that frustration, that anger, that had been coursing through his veins the night before had really left him. He had only been momentarily distracted from their overwhelming pulses by that crazy girl; he had not forgotten them.

And now he had no distractions.

The boy marched toward the cemetery, finding himself not at all surprised at how much filthier the world was at night. The urge for blood spill began to return to him the more he thought about things. The more he thought about the world. The more he thought about Asakura Yoh… That boy! What he did the day before, synchronizing with his spirit… It was impossible! It was just plainly and simply impossible! There was no way he should have been able to do it! No way…

Wham!

And Ren found himself face to face with a rather drunken looking man holding a woman loosely to each of his sides. The man's eyes were only half open but held wildness about them as if he had just recently finished his night's thrills, only to take them with him and continue into the morning at some sleazy hotel. An expensive looking cigar stuck out from his thick, chapped lips at an angle, the toxic smoke it emitted billowing up resolutely into the atmosphere. The women were both scantily clad and obviously high on some sort of illegal drug or two. They looked very much alike. Twins maybe? Ren scowled.

The man was quick to do the same, looking down at the boy like he was some sort of insect. But to Ren it was obvious who the real insects were in the world. "When ya run inta sum'n, yer s'posed to 'pologize," the man slurred angrily. The women giggled. "Well, runt?"

"You know, smoking kills," the boy muttered softly, dangerously.

"Wha' dijou say, runt?!" the man shot back, finally letting go of Thing One and Thing Two who were both still giggling.

"I said…" the spiky haired boy repeated testily as he unlatched the briefcase, "smoking kills."

In one fateful instant, Ren's kwan do assembled and shot upward, slicing the man's cigar from his lips just before taking with it a good chunk of nose as well. The man staggered back, screaming bloody murder as his hand jerked up to feel the blood gushing from around the exposed cartilage. His eyes widened, shocked into sobriety by the overwhelming pain, and his rear-end met pavement hard as his legs gave way beneath him.

By now the girls were also well on their way to sobriety and were hastily running as far away as possible. It seemed they were smarter than the man. Or perhaps he was just stupid from the pain. It didn't matter either way really. If he didn't leave perhaps the boy would just kill him. He doubted anyone would miss the sad drunk. Certainly not those girls.

"I'll git you! I'll git you, runt! Yer dead, ya hear me! Dead!!" Ren looked once again at the man, emotionless. He was scrambling to his feet as he spoke, his face white from blood loss and his eyes alight with murder. His nose, now more of a stump with nostrils, was still bleeding profusely, red liquid squeezing through his hand's tight grip.

"Whatever," the boy sighed as he lowered his weapon and watched the man run off, cursing in agony. It just wasn't worth it anymore. He took one last look at the piece of the man's nose and the cigar, laying spread out about the small alley way outside the cemetery, and at the people staring and pointing in awe and fear at him and his blade before turning away and entering the graveyard. He chanced a small smirk as he leaned up against one of the tombstones, wondering whether the Tokyo police force would soon be after him. There had certainly been plenty of witnesses. It held some interesting consequences in the young boy's mind. Somewhat like a game, perhaps.

He stared skyward, the smirk slowly fading from his lips. There may be no real stars in Tokyo, but at least there were some dull ones. Even looking at dull stars was better than being surrounded by the hustle of a Tokyo night. There were just too many people in this world.

And none of them were worthy of the lives they led.

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Ren slowly opened his eyes. Rubbing them with his shirt sleeve, he wondered when the heck he had fallen asleep. He was still in the graveyard, leaning against one of the tombstones, but the sun was now in the center of the sky. He had slept until noon. Various ghosts milled around him excitedly. Perhaps that was what had woken him up.

Then: "BOO!"

Ren jerked backward, hitting the back of his head against the cemented tombstone behind him in his surprise. He grabbed at the newly forming lump and stared coldly upward. "What are you doing here?"

Kiseki grinned from ear to ear as she leaned down toward Ren, hands on her hips. "Well, I said I'd see you later, didn't I?" she giggled. "But I never expected to see you in a cemetery. Then again, you are a shaman, so I guess it makes sense."

Ren slowly rose to his feet. Despite the painful throbbing in his head, he did feel slightly lighter now than he had before he had slept, as if something had eased away a bit of his pent-up rage. He was now simply annoyed instead of bloodthirsty and disgusted. Which, for Ren, was actually a fairly rare occurrence. He grumbled something inaudibly. It didn't sound too polite.

The girl held a box that let off quite a few mixed scents, most of them food ones. "I was just gonna have some lunch with all the spirits around here. Come on, join us, Ren-san!" she laughed as she grabbed the boy's arm and hauled him off toward a large tree. He was just barely able to grab his briefcase before she did so, cursing her rather loudly.

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Ren sighed disdainfully, still not quite sure how he had allowed for this to happen. And every time he tried to put two and two together, it seemed to add up to something along the lines of takoyaki. Which happened to be what he was eating at the moment.

The pinnacle haired boy turned slowly to face his only living eating companion. She was chatting happily with a small boy spirit, even smaller than Ren, as she ate heartily, flood flying every time she laughed. It was not at all attractive. There was, however, an interesting glint in her spiraling gray eyes which was admittedly alluring. Ren couldn't quite place it, having never seen anyone with such a glint while in his presence.

He frowned, turning away once more. It was bugging him now. What was different about her that made her so despicably carefree even while sitting next to a cold blooded killer? He had held his blade to her neck, and she had laughed it off. It made no sense.

And with that thought he wrote off all the rest as useless nuisances. There was no point in trying to analyze the human race. They were just too stupid.

"Oi, Ren-san!" The shout cut through his eardrum like a katana as he inched his head jerkily in the direction of Kiseki's playful pout. "You're sooo quiet. Talk a little, why don't you? It's like you're lacking in any social skills whatsoever!"

For a reason Ren could not quite explain even to himself, this statement greatly angered him. It was nothing like the icy cold hatred he usually felt though; it was hot, flaming, and passionate. "Of course, I have no social skills, you ignorant moron! I've never needed any! The only beings sentient enough to have a conversation with on this pathetic excuse for a world are disgusting, vile creatures that do absolutely nothing but wreak havoc and ruin upon whatever they may be given! All human beings deserve nothing but eradication! That is my sole goal in life! It's why I fight! To free this world of its self-absorbed and self-destructive fodder!!"

The cemetery became remarkably quiet as the spirits stopped what they had been doing to stare at the young boy who was now on his feet, golden orbs raging like fire. Kiseki, on the other hand, didn't move. Her expression wavered from frown to smile as if not quite sure whether Ren's outburst had been a bad thing or a good thing. This perturbed the boy a bit, but not enough to abed his anger.

"And that boy you were fighting yesterday…?" she finally questioned, her voice barely above a whisper.

Ren's passion reached new heights, sustaining his rage and yet pounding it down in the same agonizing moment. "Asakura!? Asakura Yoh?! He's quite possibly the worst! He deludes himself completely, totally convincing himself of his superior righteousness! And yet he doesn't even realize what's happening all around him!!"

He was now breathing heavily, his fists clenching and unclenching, longing for the sleek shaft of his kwan do. He watched as her expression became pained, and suddenly the impossible-to-contain passion began to slowly dissolve away, leaving Ren merely hot-headed and a bit confused.

"Do you really … Do you really hate headphone boy that much…? Do you really hate … everyone?" the brunette finally managed. The sob she seemed to be holding back bothered the boy, as did the words. But he answered truthfully. There was no point in getting emotional over something like this. She'd be dead as soon as he became Shaman King anyway. Everyone would. He'd make sure of that.

"Yes," he replied, the volume of his voice considerably softer than before. He was overcompensating for his earlier behavior. The passion had certainly dissipated, but he now felt a new, alien undertone to his thoughts and actions. It reminded him a bit of the strange feeling one gets when finished with a book he has been reading for a very long time, and faced with the transition from one world to the another, begins to feel slightly disoriented and out of touch with reality.

Then, just before Kiseki could say anything more, something happened that Ren probably should have expected, but definitely hadn't. At least not in the afternoon, with the sun still high over their heads. He heard a voice call out from the entrance of the cemetery.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Didn't run too far after what you did to me, did you? You're gonna regret that mistake, runt."

The voice sounded awkward, filtered, as if whoever was speaking was plugging his nose. Ren's frown deepened as he turned around. There was the man he had attacked the night before. His stump of a nose was wrapped tightly in hospital-issue bandages, but other than that he looked to be in good shape. And the three other men with him did too.

He laughed and began to walk forward, allowing for an analyzing glance up and down Kiseki as he did so. "The runt's got company this time, huh?" he grinned maliciously. "Well, so do I. Now, let's say we have some fun, shall we?"

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a very sleek, very metallic, very deadly M1911 semi-automatic pistol.

"Sweet dreams, runt."

And he pulled the trigger.

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windy: Check it out! A few meds later, and I'm not hysterical anymore!

Ren: He's shooting a gun at me! Me! This is when you're supposed to be hysterical!

windy: Oh my gosh! You're right again!! There's something seriously wrong with me!! How could I do that!? And to Ren!? We're all gonna die!! -collapses-

Ren: Honestly. Even Kiseki and Yoh combined would be better than this. Anyway, a few reviews would probably calm her down.

windy: And apple cider!!

Ren: And apple cider.