Much much apologies.  I know how really rushed this is, but I'm leaving Tuesday, and I really wanted to finish this.  Maybe I'll rewrite it in August when I get back.  And thanks for all the reviews!  Oh, and for a general note: I forgot to say that I pretty much cut out the spirits because I find their personalities (or possible lack of them) difficult to grasp. 

Oh yeah!  I also got to see my first clips of the Shaman King anime yesterday!  ^_^  I'd only read a couple episodes of the first volume, some translations, and a bunch of spoilers up till then (not to mention fanfics.)  But it was soooooooo cool!!  Maybe I'll get to see a complete episode someday…

            "We are finding out who did that," declared Ren resolutely as he and Horohoro walked out into the sun.  "If anyone can break a spirit as strong as hers, I sure want to see them brought to justice."

            "Leaping to defend her, huh?" teased Horohoro, nudging his friend.

            "No," snapped Ren.  "This is serious.  If someone can take down Anna, we could all be in danger.  She's…" he paused, his pride struggling with truth "…she's pretty strong…for a girl, of course."

            Horohoro cleared his throat rather artificially.  "Of course, Ren."

            They walked in silence for a while in no particular direction; there didn't seem to be any place to really go.

            "I think whoever is guilty left in a hurry," said Horohoro suddenly.

            "Why?" asked Ren, to lazy to come up with some clever remark of ridicule. 

            "The bowl," said Horohoro.  "It got spilled.  Maybe the person knocked it over because they had to leave suddenly, like if they heard Yoh coming home."

            Ren looked thoughtful.  He hadn't counted on the Ainu actually coming up with any plausible ideas.  "It's…possible," he admitted.  "Maybe we should come up with a list of possible suspects and the reasons they might have for committing such a crime.  Then we can talk to each one individually unless we write them off beforehand."

            "Okay, first," said Horohoro, rummaging in his pockets for a piece of paper and a stub of pencil, "Bokutou no Ryu."

            "Why him?"

            "Think about it.  The bokutou would pack a pretty good concussion, wouldn't it?"

            "But why would he do something like that?"

            "Good question."  Horohoro stared off into space for a while, trying to think of a legitimate reason.  

            "Okay," said Ren after a moment of silence, "this is my take on it.  He's suffering from a bad case of rejection."

            "Neh?"

            "Well, I heard that when he first met Anna, he didn't realize she was already betrothed to Yoh."

            Horohoro's jaw dropped.  "He didn't!"

            "Yeah, basically he tried to hit on her and something about all his 'best place' junk and whatever.  Let's just say it didn't work."

            "I bet she was cruel." 

            Ren's voice dropped to a confidential whisper.  "She insulted his hair."

            "No!"

            Ren nodded.

            "How awful!  I mean, at least his is better looking than yours!"  Horohoro dodged a swipe of Ren's glaive just in time and ran off toward Ryu's house, laughing at his friend's irritation. 

            Ryu was in a good mood when they arrived at his house.  He invited them cheerily in.  Ren took one good look at the wallpaper and the various large posters of Elvis Presley along the walls and decided that his decorating ideas were from a completely different planet than Ryu's.  So he decided to get straight to the point and be done with it so they could leave.

            "Where were you two evenings ago?" he asked.

            Ryu sat down in a chair and motioned them to do the same as he searched his memory.  "I was…at home.  In front of the mirror."

            "The mirror?"

            "I was doing my hair.  I have to work for a masterpiece like this, you know," he said, indicating his rather unique 'do. 

            "And for the rest of the evening?" prompted Ren.

            "It took all evening," said Ryu.  "It always does."

            "Hey, you know how that is," put in Horohoro.  "Ren, you spend hours in front of the mirror making your spike perfect."

            "And you would know this how?" inquired the Chinese boy, his face turning an interesting shade of red.

            "Jun told me," replied the Ainu cheerfully.  "She says you're really cute, 'cause you comb your hair over and over again, and take half a bottle of gel at a time, and you talk to your reflection!  She says you tell yourself lotsa times how good-looking you are."

            "Really??" cried Ryu, sudden tears of elation streaming down his face.  "You too??  I thought I might be the only one!"

            Ren's face was not a mixture of red and magenta and violet, and he didn't seem to be able to say anything.

            Horohoro took over.  "So you don't know anything about what happened to Anna, then?"

            "No," said Ryu, looking puzzled.  "What happened?"

            "Someone knocked her out and tried to make it look like she committed suicide!  Yoh says he got there just in time!"

            Ryu stared.  "I didn't hear about that!  Aw, I guess this means they won't want to come over to dinner tonight…"

            "Probably not.  Well, thanks anyway; we can't really stay."

            "So soon?  I'll see you boys around, then."

            "It wasn't Ryu," said Ren matter-of-factly as they left (he seemed to have regained some of his dignity.)

            "Nah, he probably wouldn't have been able to think up something like that, anyway."

            "Probably not.  Besides, he sorta has a debt of honor to Kyouyama and Yoh after that Tokageroh incident."

            "Oh yeah.  Well, who's our next suspect?  What about Jun?"

            "My sister?"

            Horohoro wisely took a step back, seeing the murder in the Tao boy's eyes.  "Well, she was defeated by Yoh with Anna's help…  Okay, okay!  I give!  It wasn't Jun!"

            "Good.  All Taos are far above such lowdown tricks, and don't you forget it.  Hey, look at the sun; it must be almost lunchtime.  Your house is closest.  Let's go."
            "Okay.  We can come up with more suspects while we eat."

            They started off towards Horohoro's house when suddenly the Ainu stopped.  "What if it was Lyserg?"

            Ren raised an eyebrow.  "Lyserg?  What gives you that idea?"

            "Okay, well he's got that pendant thingy, right?"

            "Pendulum.  But yeah."

            "And, like, pendants usually go on necklaces.  And Anna always wears that necklace of blue beads.  You see the connection?"

            Ren resisted the urge to smack his forehead.  "That's it??'

            "Yeah.  The reasoning is so subtle, only a mastermind could possibly think of it!"

            "Subtle?  More like so idiotic, only someone like you could come up with it."

            "I resent that!"

            "I'm sure you do.  Come on, I'm hungry."

            Horohoro's house, thankfully, had much simpler décor inside, though his room was a disaster.  (Pilika made him pick it up some while she made lunch.)  "What do you keep all this around for?" queried Ren, picking up random objects off the floor.  "A good number of them are toys too."

            "Not just toys," corrected Horohoro, grasping a wooden bat and taking a few practice swings, accidentally nearly hitting Ren.  "These are classic pastimes.  I mean, look at that.  I only started two days ago, when I got it."

            Ren looked up at the half-finished Lego fortress on its own shelf and rolled his eyes.  "I guess it's better than finding out you play hopscotch."

            "Was it you?" asked Horohoro suddenly.

            "Was what me?" replied Ren, thrown off by the non sequitur. 

            "Who tried to kill Anna."

            "Of course not!" he snapped.  "What gave you that idea?"

            "Well, you know, the knife, and then it struck me that the shape of the knife was a lot like your hair…"

            "And maybe," said Ren dryly, "it was the ice shaman because, like him, this investigation is starting to seem like a complete waste of time."

            "Yeah!" exclaimed Horohoro.  "I never even thought of tha – hey, wait a minute!"

            But Ren was already out the door and heading toward the table for lunch. 

            The two called a temporary truce so as not to waste any food should they get into another squabble.  "Did you ever wonder," said Ren softly, taking a sip of milk, "if maybe it was Pilika?"

            "No.  Why?"

            "Well, she trains you like Anna trains Yoh.  Maybe she viewed Kyouyama as kind of a rival.  It would make sense to pick her off."

            Horohoro scratched his chin and then shook his head.  "Nah, she was home all evening two nights ago.  It couldn't have been her.  Hey, I got an idea!"

            "Well…?"

            "Why don't we ask the neighbors if they saw anyone go in or out?"

            Ren blinked.  That was two good ideas Horohoro had come up with in one day.  "Okay…"

*

            A few miles away, Lyserg, who had heard of the whole incident from Ryu, was surfing the net when he came across a site called FanFiction.net.  Skimming through some of the writing, his eyes widened.  Why hadn't he thought of that before?

*

            It was the middle of the afternoon, and Yoh was completely unsure of what to do.  Sitting down to peel an orange, he puzzled over Anna's strange change in behavior.  Ever since she had come home, she had lain quietly in bed.  Once or twice, he had heard her murmur, "I almost died."  But there was nothing more; she offered no clues. 

            Suddenly, the front door burst open to reveal a triumphant Ren and Horohoro.  "We know who it was!" announced Horohoro.

            "And we have evidence to prove it!"

            "Who was it?" asked Yoh.

            Ren pulled someone into view from around the doorpost, and Yoh wondered if the world was going to end.  "Tamao??"

Heh…to be continued…