A/N: Another long chappie ":) Sorry peoples, I'm getting REALLY lazy so I cant be bothered to shorten them, lol. But I PROMISE I WILL TRY HARDER in the future!

Len: …Maybe a THOUSAND YEARS into the future…¬¬

Me: Shattap you! Besides, you aint even in the story yet, so blah! ..But you come in later my little Renny-kins. :) So, R&R PEEPS AND WIN A…a… AN ALREADY USED MURDER WEAOPON!

Len: ….

Me: ..OR A PIE! ..your choice! ":) :has recently read hazel-beka's chappie bout pie…:

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Never-Ending Sadness

Chapter 13: Boys Night In Part 1

The day had been long and cold but the night bought more warmth than the morning. I was going to 'my' room when I remembered the conversation I had had with my friends earlier in the day, Yoh was right in me not knowing them but the fact was that I didn't really want to know them, I'd have to leave sooner or later, at least before the tournament was heavily under-way. On 'my' bedroom door scribbled in green crayon was a note saying: 'meet us at Yoh's room,' underneath was scrawled all their names: 'Yoh, Morty and Tnay'. I presumed 'Tnay' meant 'Tray'; someone must have knocked him while he was writing. I made my way downstairs towards the room where I was supposed to meet the others, even though I wasn't even half way there yet I could hear faint whispers and comments, although I couldn't make out most of the conversation it sounded like Tray was asking how to set the VCR again. I knocked on the door three times.

"He's here," said Tray, there was some shuffling, a bump, and then the door opened to revile Trays grinning face.

"Hey there lil dude," his grin was to cheesy for my liking, "come on in."

I stepped into the room bare-footed; the floor was cold to the touch. Yoh and Morty were sat on some blankets and patted one for me to go sit down.

I'd been with Yoh and the others for a few weeks now and yet I still knew nothing about them, it felt strange knowing that I could trust people, or anyone else for that matter, usually when I got a friend it would take me months just for me to confide in them what I had told Anna – if not years, and usually they wouldn't stick around that long.

I sat down next to Yoh and stared up at Tray blankly. Morty was the next one to speak; "So, where do you want to start?"

"Huh?" I was confused, start on what? I wondered.

"Who do you want to ask a question first?" He cleared up my thoughts. I looked at Yoh who was grinning as usual.

"You can ask any one of us, me, Yoh, Tray, Amidamaru, Cory.. you decide."

"Amidamaru and Cory?" I looked up to see the spirit Amidamaru just above my head and the tiny Minushen, Corry, flying happily about, her cheerful laugh hardly noticeable in the thickening silence. The little spirit flew past my face causing a light breeze to caress my forehead, I laughed at tried to catch her, jumping about and leaping into the air only to grasp just that: air. We both tiered after a while and rested after the chase, everyone could see we both enjoyed it and it had given me the chance to think up some questions too.

"Morty," I asked, "do you have a guardian ghost?"

The small lad shook his head, "Nope, do you?"

I hesitated, then, hoping no one would notice my lie, said "..No."

"But if you're a shaman you should have a guardian ghost right?" Tray looked puzzled.

"I just haven't found him yet," I told them, then saw I'd let it slip, with that information they might start asking questions.

"I'm sure you'll find him or her soon," smiled Yoh.

I smiled back, glad that they had misunderstood my answer.

"What I'm curious about is that stick you have there with you," Amidamaru pointed to Noyble at my side, "is it some sort of weapon?"

I hadn't even realised I'd bought Noyble into the room, I only used him in a battle… and the odd fact of getting fruit down from a tree.

"You mean Noyble? He's… he's… he's all I have left of my parents before they were taken from me." I looked down at the floor and studied the outline of my feet.

"Taken from you?" Yoh asked now deep into the conversation.

"Never mind," I tried to throw them off track.

"What are you hiding?" Yoh stared hard at me until we were looking straight into each others eyes, I was the first to turn away; more out of guilt than anything else.

"…so who's up for a game of pillow fighting?" Tray tried to change the subject, it was weird, usually Yoh would be the one to save me from uncomfortable moments, now this boy I hardly knew was my rescuer.

"But what about the 'getting to know each other' bit?" Morty sounded disappointed, I guess he just wanted another friend.

"Oh yeah," Tray blinked and looked at Yoh as if expecting him to make the decision.

Yoh thought about it for a moment before answering, "Well I think we should introduce ourselves, get to know each other, become closer friends, thenbatter each other with pillows."

We all laughed at his last comment and then one by one introduced ourselves, the blue-haired boy when first.

"As you already know I'm Tray and I'm from the north, that annoying girl you saw with me when you first woke up was my sister Pilica, and my guardian is a Minushen called Cory." As if on cue Cory flew past my face, around my head and floated inches above my right shoulder.

"Aww she's so cute," I smiled and tried to catch the floating creature again but with little success. The small spirits leaf flicked my ear as she dodged my last attempt at capture. I turnt my attention back towards the group as Morty introduced himself.

"I'm Mortimer, but everyone just calls me Morty, I was the one who bandaged you up when you arrived and I'm the person who cooks around here." His smile was big for a little guy, "And before you ask yes I am in the same year group as Yoh and no I'm not a Minushen."

We all laughed except for Cory who seemed to be insulted by this gesture and pouted, which made everybody laugh even more. Yoh didn't bother introducing himself for he had done the first time we'd met, but he did speak of the Samari floating above him.

"This is Amidamaru and he's my guardian ghost, he's one of my best pals and has quite a history if you'd like to hear about it sometime, he's a six-hundred year old Samari."

The ghost smiled warmly but stopped when the smile was only returned by a slight sob. I hid my head under a pillow and fought back the tears in my eyes.

"Shin? What's wrong?" Asked the ghost, even Cory, who had recently been in a mood, came to see what was the matter.

"Hey Cory, see what's the matter with him would ya?" I heard Tray say, before I had a chance to think about what he meant the small spirit squeezed in through a gap where I was letting a bit of light in and looked up at my face. She cocked her head as if asking me the same question as everyone else and used her leaf as a shelter as one big teardrop fell onto her tiny head. The others waited for Cory's response; I saved her from ever answering.

"…I… just have something… in my eye… that's all…" I whipped away my tears with one finger and scolded myself. Shinzo! Quit crying you wimp! It's not like there all gunna die off over night! Just coz you've never had friends like these before doesn't mean you can cry about it! After a few more seconds my head emerged, my eyes were red rimmed and everyone was silent to give me a bit of time to calm myself down and re-adjust to the faces in the room.

"So that's the introductions over with then?" Asked Tray,

"Yeah, that's about it," Yoh yawned.

"Good!" Tray grinned an evil grin, laughed an evil laugh, then clobbered Yoh's head with a pillow.

"Ym pwy fa tha!" Came Yoh's muffled reply,

"What was that buddy? I can't hear you," Tray leaned in closer and was just about to make a smart comment when Yoh's head popped out from underneath a pillow.

"I said you'll pay for that!" Yoh scrambled around for a pillow, when he eventually found one Tray had moved onto hitting me and Morty with the harmless piece of fluff. I laughed and hit him back; it was like a small diversion as Yoh dog-piled on Tray beating him with the pillow. Morty, being the only living person in the room left not doing anything, grabbed a pillow and joined in the fun. We all played for hours not noticing the time until Morty looked at his watch, "Err, guys? I hate to be a party pooper but its gone midnight!"

"Wha!" We were all gob-smacked at how quickly the time had gone.

"No offence Shin, but I think its way past your bed time don't you?" Yoh ruffled my hair playfully.

"Aww! But I don't wanna go to sleep!" I complained.

"Sorry kid but those are the breaks," Tray spoke up as he handed me my pillow and a couple of blankets.

"How old are you anyway?" Asked Morty as he lay his head on his pillow,

"Eight," I said, before falling into yet another twisted sleep, not of the past, not of the present, but of the future and tormenting years to come.

They were laughing at me, their faces cruel and tormenting, their words tearing into my very soul, eating away at my flesh, making my very existence meaningless.

'Why are you doing this?' I asked them, 'I thought you were my friends, I trusted you!'

'Trust! Trust is for losers, sappy weaklings like you!' Tray shouted in-between laughs.

'Don't do this! Why are you doing this I don't understand!' I spoke faster now, in more need of a friend, someone to turn to. I looked around for a sign, anything to get me out of the darkness and into the light.

'Morty! Anna! Come on guys don't do this!' I yelled at them, my eyes stung from tears.

'Why not? We should have turned you in from the moment we saw you! Lying there in that rosebush! PahHow pathetic!'Scoffed Yoh. Those words stung more than anything else in that chamber, but it wasn't what he said that hurt, it was who they came from, I had trusted Yoh more than any of the others and now he had been turnt against me by mans greed, their lives for mine. I hadn't expected them to die trying to protect me like those before them, but I hadn't expected them to turn me in straight away either.

'Come with me Shinzo,' came a voice from behind, out of the darkness came a hand, a hand belonging to a man of pure evil.

'No!' I pulled my arm away from him, 'I'm not going!'

The voice was persistent, 'Come!' It yelled. Before I could yell once more chains were thrown over me, as I struggled to get out of them a squeeze was put on my chest. The chains were tightening, but no one was pulling them... they were alive! I struggled and struggled, but try as I might they would not give way, they tightened and tightened until it was becoming difficult for me to breathe, I fell to my knees as the darkness gave way to more darkness, and the laughing finally subdued.

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A/N: So guys, like it? I hope you do:is to tiered to write a proper a/n: R&R PEEPS!