Pinkdreamer's A/N: Welcome back! If you are reading this, you are doing pinkdreamer122 a huge service. Now do her another and review! I don't care if it's just "it's good". I'd like some feedback. To Helena-Jeanne-Chibi, thanks for reading on and reviewing. Muchas gracias!  I like Shiori's coldness too, so I'll try not to make quite a difference in her personality at the end (you'll see after a while). Also to Dream Gazer, welcome! You've reviewed my other fic too (The Black Widow- check my author page- shameless plug), so thanks for all your support. And lucky for you I was in the middle of this chapter when I got your review.

Shiori's Insulting Disclaimer: Pinkdreamer does not own Shaman King. If you haven't gotten it yet, forget it. It's beyond you.

Chapter 4

Ghostwrangling

"I am not going anywhere like this," said Shiori flatly. "Oh, come on, Shiori," said Yoh. He, Anna, and Manta were standing outside her room door, talking to Shiori on the inside. "You don't want to stay cooped up in the house all day, and Anna was nice enough to lend you a spare."

"We don't have time for this, Yoh," said Manta. "We're going to be late for school." "The midget's right, Yoh," said Anna. "I have better things to do than encourage Shiori's prima donna attitude. Let me handle this." She went to the door so Shiori could hear. "Listen, Shiori, we're leaving right now. Either you come with us or you can explain to Mimiru why you refused a part of training."

The door swung open, and Anna jumped out of the way as it flew inches from her face. Manta was not so lucky, however, and got slammed into the wall. "Owww..." Shiori stood, hair flowing down her back and dressed in one of Anna's spare school uniforms. She was livid. "How many times do I have to tell you to leave my grandmother out of this?!"

Anna just looked at her. "I take it you're coming then."

Shiori exhaled furiously through her teeth and stormed out the door, muttering curses at Anna under her breath. Manta stared at her leaving form. "Two questions. Why is Shiori coming to school with us, and is she actually scared of her grandma?"

"Great-Aunt Mimiru isn't someone you wanna mess with," said Yoh. "But Shiori isn't scared of her. It's more like respect. Mimiru is the closest family she's got." He smiled. "I guess you could say Mimiru and Shu Lin are Shiori's only weaknesses."

"And Shiori is coming to school with us so she doesn't get into trouble," said Anna. "She would have have cursed everybody within a 10-mile radius by the time we got back. She'll just cast a suggestion spell so nobody asks questions. She does it all the time."

"So you're protecting the neighborhood from Shiori..." said Manta. "But who's gonna save us...?"

At Shinra Private Academy, (I think that's what it's called...dang, I wish I had my back issues of Shonen Jump here) Shiori turned out to be the center of attention. Everyone was fascinated with the "exchange student" with the strange eyes and war paint- until she opened her mouth. She managed to alienate the entire class by lunchtime, much to her satisfaction. "Do you enjoy making people stay away from you?" asked Anna.

"Almost as much as you do," said Shiori, biting into her sandwich contentedly. Then she stood up, the wind blowing her hair across her face as her eyes narrowed. "You feel that?" Then the wind disappeared as quickly as it came. Yoh and Anna looked out in the same direction gravely. "What? I don't feel anything," said Manta.

"That's because it's gone now, Whiny," said Shiori. She smiled darkly. "But I can't be fooled so easily. A spirit is stalking me."

As the quartet went towards home after school, everyone was eerily silent, feeling the apprehension hanging thickly in the air. "I can't take it anymore!" Manta said finally. "Somebody say something!"

"Manta, look out!" Lin yelled suddenly, materializing out of nowhere. Manta jumped in terror- and just missed a huge banister come crashing down from a nearby building. A spirit who looked barely human with a huge gaping mouth and blood-red eyes growled at them. "Grraaaahh...."

"A fixated ghost..." said Anna, frowning. "That must have been what was tailing us."

"Tailing me, you mean," said Shiori. She stood in front of the others. "I'm who you want. Leave these others alone."

"I always knew you cared," said Yoh.

Shiori snorted. "If you're dead, I can't finish my training." Meanwhile, the ghost stared unsettlingly at her. "Graaaahhh..." Shiori folded her arms. "Graaah yourself. If you have something of substance to say, say it, or I'll be on my way."

At that remark, the ghost launched himself off the building with blinding speed and a loud war-cry. "RUURRAAAAHHH!!!" "Always knew that mouth would get her in trouble..." said Anna. Amidamaru materialized. "Lord Yoh, shouldn't we...?"

Yoh smiled. "Naw. Shiori's got it."

The ghost swung a clawed, beefy hand at Shiori. BAM! Shiori had stopped the attack with a metal bo staff (think Donatello from the Ninja Turtles. You know you used to watch it-or still do...). Shiori had her head bowed and chuckled. "Good work, Shu Lin. I didn't even have to tell you to integrate." She looked up and her eyes were deep brown with long lashes, just like Lin's. She actually looked less fearsome than normal, except for the warrior's fire burning in her eyes. "Now then, shall we discuss this like civilized people?" she said in Lin's voice.

Okay, I'll stop here since this is getting long. Next up: why is this fixated ghost after Shiori? What is Shu Lin's power? And what embarrassing good deed does Anna have planned next for our sour-faced heroine? Find out next time! And don't forget to review!