Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King nor any of the characters presented in this piece of work.

That day had been unusually quiet, but Anna didn't complain. Her head was in the clouds and telling furtunes wasn't possible for her at the moment. It was nearly noon when Anna's stomach growled demanding food. For the first time in hours, Anna tore her eyes away from her new bracelet. Hmmm I guess getting some food would be a good idea right about now, she thought to herself as she rubbed her stomach with her hand.

" Hey, Tamao! How about we go get something to eat together today?" Anna asked when she finally came out of her room.

" My my... someone's unusually bubbly today." Tamao gave Anna a sly gaze with a huge smile on her face.

Anna rolled her eyes. " Whatever" Anna she replied.

Tamao laughed at her friend, whose behavior was becoming so foreign to her day by day. " Well... I do have plans to go lunching with Manta today."

" You... and Shorty?" Anna eyed the slightly blushing Tamao with a raised eyebrow. " Ok, what's going here?"

" What do you mean?" Tamao asked causally, avoiding Anna's eyes for fear that her blush might grow a deeper red.

" Think about it. You, and... Shorty! How did this happen?"

Tamao looked at Anna, a bit offended. " What's wrong with Manta?"

Anna was taken aback by the tone of Tamao's voice. She thought to herself for a moment. Yeah what is wrong with Manta? Aside from the fact that he's loud, afraid of anything unusual, and jumps at every little thing, Manta was a pretty good guy. He was friendly, caring, and thoughful... yeah there really isn't anything wrong with that Shrimp.

" Well?" Tamao waited for an answer, her tone low and demanding. She was actually surprising herself by how defensive she became over Manta's behalf.

" Hmph, I suppose there really isn't anything wrong with him. That is, if you don't mind that he's shorter than you," Anna smirk.

" Anna, you know I don't care about physical appearance." Tamao reminded Anna. " Not every guy's going to be as pretty as Yoh, you know."

" What?!" Anna shot Tamao a death glare. " What does he have to do with anything?" She growled, pride taking over.

" Ughhhhh... nothing!" Tamao held up her hands in defense. " Hehe." Anna's glare still set on Tamao. " Ummmm, well why don't you join me and Manta for lunch. I'm sure we'll have a good time."

" Or you can join me for lunch so you don't have to be a third wheel." A voice came from someone who just entered their shop.

" Excuse me?" Tamao looked at the dark haired guy quizzically. " May we help you?" Anna also turned to the owner of the voice, surprise to see it was the guy who almost ran her over.

" I wanted to ask your friend to lunch. My names's Ren, and your are...?" Ren handed out his hand.

" None of your business." Anna replied quick but bluntly. " I'm sorry but we're closed at the moment." Anna started pushing Ren out the door. Before he knew what happened, Ren was once again standing outside in the cold.

" What the hell just happened?" He turned left and right before realizing he was just rejected. " Oh, she doesn't know who she's messing wi..." Ren was about to storm back into the shop when his cell phone rang loudly in his coat pocket. " What do you want?!" Ren growled into the phone without even checking his caller id.

" My my, brother dear. Not in a very good mood now are we?" His older sister Jun was on the other end of the line.

" What is it now, Jun?" There was a pause. Ren rolled his eyes for he knew exactly what the subject is, just from the few seconds of silence between them. " Him again? Damn Jun! When will you get over him?"

" I can't... I tried, but I just... can't." Jun's voice was low and Ren could tell she was one the verge of tears.

" Oh, will you stop it?! Fine! What do you want me to do now?"

" I heard he's been living in Japan."

" Hmmmm, that's where I am right now."

" I know, that's why I'm calling you. I'm living for Japan tonight. Can you help me try to find out where he is?"

Ren looked back at the store angrily. " This isn't over," he mutter under his breathe.

" What was that?"

" Nothing. Fine I'll go look for your little boy, Yoh. But damn, I still fail to see he you find so great about him. And I was so glad when he left too."

" Thank you, Ren." Jun said gratefully despite what her brother just said. Ren left after hanging up with his sister.

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" So, who was that?" Tamao asked Anna with a teasing voice and remembering to expand the 'o' on the word
'so'.

" He said his name was Ren," Anna snapped, completely annoyed at the fact the guy followed her. " Does he not have a life?" She asked nobody in particular.

" Oh come on, Anna. I remember there were plenty of guys who followed you into our store on different occasions. It's actually great for business." Tamao continued to tease but shut up when Anna shot her another death glare. Over the years of working with Anna, Tamao learned not to push her too far.

" Are we going to eat or what?" Anna changed the subject.

" Yeah, Manta should be here any minute." And sure enough, Manta ran into the store right after Tamao finished speaking. " And there he is." Tamao smile at the panting boy who had now stop to catch his breath.

" Do you always run to places, Shrimp?" Anna looked down at him.

" Here," Manta handed his cellphone up to Anna. " Yoh... wanted... to talk... to you," he managed to speak in between breaths. " I just wanted... to catch you before... you go to lunch." Manta was finally started to breath normal again.

" Yeah yeah," Anna took the phone from Manta, her hand a little shaky at the process. Tamao giggled at the sight only to make Anna blush. " Hel... hello?"

" Anna! Did you get my gift?" Yoh's cheerful voice greeted from the other ended. Anna was starting to fell ridiculous for having such a fluttering feeling in her stomach just at the sound of his voice. " Anna, are you there?"

" Yes I'm here. I... got it. Thank you... Yoh," she said low enough for only Yoh to hear. She could hear Tamao and Manta snickering with each other. Anna decided to continue the conversation in her fortune telling room so she wouldn't be a blushing idiot in front of them.

" I'm glad you like them." Anna could picture Yoh with his signature grin at that moment. " Listen, I'm about to get on the plane."

" You're coming back?" she asked in a high pitch girly voice. She blushed even more after hearing herself. Argh! What are you doing to me Yoh?

" Well, yes and no." He replied regretfully.

" What do you mean?"

" I'm going back home, but I have to drop in on my grandparents first."

" Oh..."

" Don't worry, Anna. I'll be..." Yoh began when he sensed Anna's disappointment but was shortly cut off.

" Worry? Who's worry? Get over yourself, Yoh. I couldn't care less when you come back, or if you even come back for that matter." Yoh began to laugh loudly which didn't happen the situation a bit. " I fail to see what's so funny." Anna said dryly.

" Ok ok. I get it. You don't care. I have to go now. Do take care of yourself, Anna. I really... miss you." Yoh's voice became softer at the end of his sentence. Anna whispered back an 'I miss you too' but it was too low that Yoh couldn't hear. She heard a click, meaning Yoh had hung up. Her whole body began to warm up as his last words floated around in her mind. If you really miss me, you should come back a litter quicker, Yoh.

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Yoh sat on his seat quietly, thinking heavily on what he dreamt about last night. It was about Anna again, but this dream wasn't a good one. Nope not a good one at all. Even though he missed hold Anna terribly, so much that it hurts for him to think about it, he still wasn't looking forward to what will happen when he finally does get the chance to. He let out a long exasperated sigh before drifting off to sleep again.

Oh Anna, I hope we'll get through what's to come fast enough cause I can't wait to have you in my arms again.

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Took me longer than usual to update huh? Well reading all the suggestions just filled my head who more possibilities so I was mixed up for awhile. But anyway, hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Another character popped up!

Ced: Thanks for the info on Pirika. Though it doesn't really help me much in trying to get more of an idea on how she really is, but that was thoughtful.

fatlazikat Thanks for the err... umm.. excited reviews. You're so very kind

KristiexxNguyen: Yes I have seen Hao, or Zeke, from the anime. He's just the evil side of Yoh to me. I'll always love Yoh more lol. But anyway, he actually will appear in this story.