A/N: O.o Man, it's hot back here in the Philippines… You should try coming up here, you'll burn in hell… I wish I was at Bora-Bora! Then I could go around in my swim suit all day and feel the breeze! Wooooo-hooooo! Here's the next chapter: feast on it guys… And always remember, Filipinos: "Iba ka-summer ang Kapamilya!" (Bawal ang Kapuso!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King… I wish I owned the whole island of Boracay though!

Chapter 5: Read Between The Lines

The whole Tao mansion was deadly quiet the next day. Pirika was lying pale and sick in bed, with Lun-Lun watching over her. The rest of the gang was cooped up in Lian Tao's bedroom, reminiscing yesterday's events. Yoh, Manta, Ryu and Horo were all on their knees, huddled wround the floor, deciphering the contents of Kino's journal that was written in ancient Ainu language. Anna was sitting on the foot of Lian's bed, commenting on how slow they were working. Ren and Jun were reading Lian's journal on the bed, finding out what the ghost wants.

"Take a look at this!" Manta unearthed something shiny from the pages of the book.

He showed them a broken heart pendant hanging from a chain.

"It says on this page that Kino gave it to her and promised to marry her no matter what," Horo read, "It's marked the 3rd full moon and the 6th day. March 6th!"

"March 6th?" Jun flipped the pages of the other journal, "It says the same thing here. The date of their wedding was on the 13th of March."

"Holy crap!" Ren gasped, "They had a baby!"

"What!"

"Kino and Lian had a baby!" Ren held up something that looked like a Chinese charm, "This is a charm for safe childbirth! I found it stuck between the pages of 9th December and 10th December. And look at this, Jun. It says here that the baby was 4 months old when Kino gave Lian the pendant. It is, isn't it, Jun?"

"Yes," Jun said softly, "That's the exact charm mother once used on you, Ren."

"They kept it from their families as long as they can," Horo read from Kino's journal, "And it says here that Lian used the attic for a nursery! Whoa…"

"It all fits…" Ren muttered, "The lullaby… The attic…"

"But what does the ghost want?" Ryu asked nobody.

"Eternal peace, of course," they all jumped at Anna's sudden comment, "It wants to have its rest. To have that, she needs to finish her business when she was alive or at least have something she didn't have. It's the basics of being an itako."

"We all know that already, Anna," Jun said, "The real deal is, what does she want from Pirika?"

Pirika. The name seemed to have stirred something in Ren, a new purpose for solving this mystery. Her name was an endless echo in his head now and when he thinks about it… all his troubles fade away just like that. He forgets to be nasty and tends to be illogical, something that never happened before…

"I'm sorry, did I disturb you?" Lun-Lun suddenly came in the room, carrying a plate of cookies.

"Not at all," Horo took the plate from her and Lun-Lun gave a slight blush.

"Lun-Lun, did Lian Tao really have a baby?" Jun asked her, "What happened to the baby?"

"The baby survived the purge of the Taos," Lun-Lun told them, her lips strangely trembling as she did, "He lived on to continue that line, and I think it still survives until today."

"I'll go see if Grandpa's around, he might be able to get us some info," Ren left the room, but instead of going down, he went straight to Pirika's room.

Pirika was lying on the bed, but she definitely wasn't sleeping. Her eyes darted to Ren and she smiled. Ren seemed to calm down at the sight of her, though he didn't know why. He never felt this way before and it was so strange to him… So awkward… However, when he looked at Pirika's comely face, he noticed that yesterday's events had taken its toll on it. Her eyes that were brimming with warmth and brightness seemed to have turned cold and empty. And she wasn't her hyper self anymore (something that others seemed to have appreciated).

"Hey Ren," Pirika said, "Why're you here? I thought you're supposed to be with the others."

"I… uh…" Ren was stuttering again and was turning red, "I just wanted to see if you were ok…"

"Oh…" Pirika said weakly, "That's sweet…"

"Pirika, I…" Ren suddenly found himself grabbing Pirika's hand.

What am I doing? What in bloody hell am I doing! This isn't me! This is so not me at all! What the hell is happenning!

"Ren, you don't have to say anything," Pirika gave him a gentle smile, "I'll be fine. All she wants is to rest and that's all."

"I hope you're right," Ren said, still remembering what Grandpa told Yoh and himself last night, "Stay safe, Pirika."

"I will," Piria looked at Ren and for a moment, the same twinkle was restored in her eyes.

Ren squeezed the hand he was holding and gently placed it to his lips. Pirika smiled at him as he made his way out the door. Ren closed the door gently and went back to Lian's room, still wondering what the hell he was doing. The rest of the gang was still pondering on the mystery with Grandpa.

"Dude, where have you been?" Horo asked, "Grandpa came up here minutes ago and he didn't see you."

"Don't call me dude," Ren went back to his moody self and slumped on Lian's bed.

"Tomorrow is March 13th, if you haven't noticed," Grandpa told all of them, "Lian and Kino's death anniversary."

"Whoah… You're right…" Jun flicked the journal to March 13, "Empty and … is this… blood?"

Ryu gave a little-girlish scream of horror as he laid his eyes on the blood that was splattered on the date of March 13th. Everybody looked at his with their eyebrows raised.

"That girl Pirika is in grave danger," Grandpa shook his head, "I should've told you sooner…"

"What!" Both Horo and Ren exclaimed.

"This house holds another secret within its walls," Grandpa told them and Lun-Lun winced, "Once every century, a girl is found dead inside this house on Lian's death anniversery-"

"Why the hell didn't you tell us this before!" Ren looked ready to pounce on Grandpa at any moment.

"Ren! Let him finish!" Jun snapped.

"The girl's death is exactly the same to the way Lian herself died, by slashing her neck and bleeding to death," Grandpa continued, "She always had the same message with her: To be with her one true love and their child until her final breath."

"This is just stupid," Ren muttered and the rest looked as shocked as he was.

"What're we going to do?" Jun seemed as though she was going to cry at any moment (which she doesn't do often), "Poor Pirika…"

"We're going to save her," Ren told them all, "We're going to keep Pirika safe and that's final! Lun-Lun, I order you to keep a close watch on her starting now-"

Everybody stared at Ren's sudden outburst. Lun-Lun, who looked a bit pale herself, went out without any hesitation. Ren turned to Grandpa.

"And I order you to tell us what we have to do to save her!" Ren exclaimed.

"All you need to do is to bring her family back together," Grandpa said matter-of-factly, "Which a lot of this house's former inhabitants weren't very successful in doing so."

"Wait a second," Anna got up to her feet, "If this involves bones-"

"Unfortunately, it does," Grandpa said sadly and Manta shuddered, "Lian is buried in the backyard and Kino is buried somewhere in Hokkaido."

"And how are we supposed to bring them together if that's the case?" Manta asked.

"Bring them together in spirit, my boy," Grandpa gave them a horrible toothless grin, "You are Shamans aren't you?"

"Yes we are, Grandpa!" Yoh grinned back, "And we're going to save Pirika, aren't we guys?"

"Of course we are," Anna said surprisingly, "Even if it involves somebody's rotten skeletal system."

"So, all for one-"

Yoh wasn't able to finish what he was saying at all.

"PIRIKA!" suddenly came Lun-Lun's cry, "NOOOO!"

A/N: Ok, something happened to Pirika… again… That was a crappy chapter… Hell, I'm running out of ideas… Would somebody send an inspiration from above! Oh well, that's life… Life sucks… And when life gives you lemons… make lemonade! Oh wait, what am I saying? Anyway, I'm fresh out of lemonade for this chapter and tune in next chapter for more lemons! Oh dear, that's not right… What I really mean is, just see the next chapter for what'll happen next… if I could get more lemons… Rock on, guys!