I'm really sorry for the first chapter being so messy and disorganized. I was experimenting, trying to find a way fanfiction would accept my chapters better. I used to have trouble with the spacing between the paragraphs. I tried one thing with the first chapter and another on a chapter in my other story. The other one worked better, obviously. But I seriously want to know where my puncuation went in the first chapter... I might reload that one.

Not much else to say, except that I think Yoh's going to make an appearance in this one. Not sure. Depends on whether I get to that.

I don't own Shaman King. If I did, though, Horo Horo would be a playa pimp, and Ren would be the ladies man. Yoh would be a demon (such fantasies I have of Yoh...) and Anna? Tsk. Anna would make one HOT boy.

"Wonder where he's going?"

"Probably somewhere important. You know, my cousin from Kyoto said someone died last night in a fire."

"What? And you think he did it?"

"But he's just so hot..."

"I know. You know, I don't think he has a mate."

"What would it be like to be his mate?"

"Think of the possibilities! Being pampered, living nice, it'd be like being the queen of the world."

"What do you expect? That guy's a walking powerhouse, I can tell from where I'm sitting."

"I don't think any of us could be his mate. He has the look of a man who's still in love..."

Anna stepped into the quaint looking house, flashing her card at the bouncer at the door. He blended in well, just leaning against the wall next to the door. Anna made no contact with anyone, looking at the floor ahead of her instead of at the people. She had learned early that the first floor was never a good place for social gatherings at a bash. The real part of the bash happened downstairs.

Relieved, she opened the door, going down the stairs. Whoever invited her would most likely be waiting for her on the second floor. She opened the other door, stepping into the dark room. Multiple flashers were on simultaneously, and somewhere a smoke machine was puffing out smoke on the floor and in the air. The heavy, pounding beat made Anna's ears ache at first, but she got used to it quickly. Maneuvering through the dancing bodies, she made her way to the bar. Almost every demon could probably tell just by her scent that she was a human, but she didn't need to stand out more than usual, and not drinking at a bash was the biggest hint that she was a human.

She leaned on the counter a bit, gesturing to the barkeeper. He nodded, turning to find something a human could drink. She was just starting to relax when someone placed their hand on her shoulder. She turned, slipping her prayer bead bracelet from her arm to her hand. "Chill, Anna," Horo pleaded. "Its just me."

Anna sighed, slipping her bracelet back on her arm. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a demon, I get invited to these things. But how did you get invited here? Demons don't usually take well to your kind, Anna."

"Invitation in my pocket, thought I would check it out."

Horo smirked. "Ironic you get invited to one of these parties. The host used to be a really good friend of mine. We kinda fell out after a while, though."

"Fascinating. Where's Tamao?"

He tensed, forcing a smile. "At home."

"And she let you come out to a party like this? After you've been mated for how long?"

"Demons are like humans, Anna. We don't cheat on someone we've been bound to."

Anna sighed as the barkeeper gave her her drink. She sipped it, wincing at the strong taste. "Horo, I have a question for you."

He sat beside her, the barkeeper handing him his drink that he had had ready for him. "Hm?"

"Say a demon isn't mated. Are they allowed to sleep with another demon without making them their mate?"

"Planning to have fun with a demon tonight?"

If looks could kill, Horo would have been ten feet under. He chuckled nervously. "Just joking, Anna. I guess it depends on the situation."

"What kind of situation?"

"Anna, if anything happened tonight between any of these people before, they would not be mates. True, demon romance revolves around mating, but it has to be done with mating on the mind, for lack of better words. Like marriage. You can't marry someone by accident, unless I'm out of touch with human customs."

Anna nodded, fiddling with her drink in her hands. "I see."

She blinked. He had been there for less than a second. Staring right at her. Then the light had flashed and he was gone. She blinked several times, looking around. He was gone. Horo noticed her confused expression. "What's wrong?"

"I thought I saw- but why would he? In my apartment. Really shy. He wouldn't- he couldn't-"

He laughed. "Take a deep breath, Anna, then try to use complete sentences."

"But- he's- he can't-"

"Miss Anna?"

She turned, surprised to see the boy right next to her. He laughed shyly, scratching his head. "Sorry if I scared you."

"But- but-"

"Oh! I'm sorry. I guess you didn't know. Sorry."

Horo smiled. "Lyserg! How long has it been?"

"Ages. I haven't been out much. Busy with work."

"Understandable."

"How's Tamao?"

Horo laughed nervously. "She's getting pretty moody. One of those times when I just had to get out of the house before she skinned me."

"I'm sorry. I hope things get better."

"You're a demon?" Anna finally managed to ask. Lyserg smiled at her.

"No, I'm afraid you're mistaken, Miss Anna."

"Then how-"

"How did I get invited? I'm a half demon. I also have friends in high places."

Anna blinked, taking in these information. The quiet, shy boy that lived down the hall had been a half demon all along, and she hadn't noticed it. She was becoming rusty. Timidly, she reached out, trying to find Lyserg's energy. But it wasn't there. Either she wasn't able to find it, or it wasn't there. But that was impossible. Even the smallest child had an energy level. Which meant that if Anna couldn't find it, then her powers were fading. 'No,' she thought desperately. 'I'm just tired. I've been trying to hard.' But what other reason was there?

Horo looked at Anna, surprised by her shocked and fearful face. "Anna, are you okay?"

She came out of her stupor suddenly, smiling at Lyserg. "Can you excuse us for just a second?"

"Of course."

She grabbed Horo, pulling him over to the side. If Horo didn't know what was wrong, then she was doomed. "I can't find his energy. Its just not there."

Horo blinked. "And that's a problem?"

"I'm a priestess! If I can't see the energy level, then I'm just a normal human!"

He laughed, waving over at Lyserg. The green haired boy came closer, a smile on his face. "Yes, Mr. Horo?"

"Tell Miss Anna here about your current state."

Lyserg nodded, turning to Anna with an adorable smile. "Miss Anna, you were searching for my energy?"

She nodded dully, wondering why the two were so laid back about it. This was her power she was talking about! Without it, any demon could just come and start munching on her and she'd be helpless! "Due to my job, I shouldn't- rather can't- be noticed that much. Energy is easy to sense from far away, so I trained myself to suppress it so that its not present. This comes with pros and cons, but it helps bring food on the table."

Anna sighed in relief. So it wasn't her. "What do you do, anyways?" she demanded, her eyes narrowing as she grew suspicious. What demon -half or full- would need to keep his energy level hidden?

"Messenger at the moment. I hope you'll forgive me for bumping into you in the hall last night-"

"That was you?"

"- but it was the only way I could slip the card into your pocket without anyone noticing. I bet you didn't realize that one of the doors was open and someone was watching you."

Anna replayed last night in her head again. She had been searching for her keys. Someone had opened a door and rushed out, and she hadn't bothered to look. He had bumped into her, but she was too caught up searching for her keys. It was a perfect moment of weakness. Any demon could have come and attacked her. There was no telling what demons might do with the revolution trying to surface from being underground. "So you invited me here."

"Yes, Miss Anna, I was told to contact you."

"For what?"

"To offer you a job. I hear you're unemployed."

Anna raised an eyebrow. "A job?"

Horo laughed, catching the eye of someone in the crowd. "I hope you two youngsters will excuse me, but I'll take my leave now. Anna, don't leave without telling me, I'm walking you home."

"Don't worry, Mr. Horo," Lyserg said cheerfully. "I'll walk her home."

"Excellent. See ya later, Anna, Lyserg."

"I'm not some doll that needs to be protected," Anna complained as Horo walked off. Lyserg smiled.

"Shall I continue? Anyways, the job I'm about to offer you is very secretive, and no one else can know about it."

"So why did you pick a place in public to tell me about it?"

"Basic training: A private place can be easily breached, but in public, there's too much noise and confusion, and you're just another person talking to someone. No one's paying attention to us."

The logic behind that was strange, but true. Anna tucked that bit of information away in her brain for future use. "What's this job?"

"A position as a S.A.Y.D.R agent."

"Say-der?"

Lyserg laughed. "Yes, thats generally what we call it. It stands for Society Active Youth Demon Repellers. Underground police that work in the demon world, you could say. And we could use a person like you."

Anna sighed, leaning on the counter. "You're offering me a job without any kind of paperwork or anything?"

"Paperwork's too messy and manipulative, we trust word of mouth."

Anna smirked, chuckling. "Thats two of your principles that I like. Give me a third and I might start to consider."

"You get paid. Depending on your task, 20,000 to 50,000 yen."

"Well, Lyserg, that's a very persuasive third principle. Tell me what I need to know."

Lyserg smiled and commenced telling her what her jobs would be and what the rules where. If she accepted, she was to be taken to headquarters to officially be hired. If she refused, Lyserg would be forced to use one of the many capsules he carries around and erase her memories. Simple, classic, but very effective. But with the pay on her mind, who could resist?

"Come on, Yoh. Have fun with it."

Yoh sneered, rolling his eyes. "Have fun. Highly impossible."

"You mean improbable."

"I mean impossible." Nonetheless, Yoh dipped his fingers into the bloody carcass. Using two clawed fingers, he wrote the message on the brick wall. He sucked his teeth as he wrote. "This is so childish."

"We have to tone things down so that the primates can understand. Aren't you happy you left that whore of a human a long time ago?"

Yoh growled warningly. Finished, he licked off his fingers, and was almost ashamed to find that he still liked it after years of not feasting on the flesh of humans for ages. Soon his hand was clean, and he was craving for more.

"I can see your hunger, Yoh. Come on, lets go hunting together, just like old times."

"Old times," Yoh muttered, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He was dressing differently these days, choosing a more punk, gothic look than the lazy, care free one who used to have all the time. His whole wardrobe was made of black these days. The others said it was the color of mischief and malice, but Yoh thought of it as mourning. For what he was mourning for, he could not decide. he shrugged. "Fine. What have I got to loose?"

"Excellent! Then we can go drinking, then resume our journey."

"Our journey to Tokyo," Yoh said sadly.

"Don't even think about going to see your little human lover, Yoh."

Yoh rolled his eyes as he sniffed the air, trying to catch the scent of a lone human nearby. Catching the scent, he smirked, his hunter instincts kicking in. "We'll share the catch?"

"Of course."

"Then lets go."

And there's the second chapter. Its so funny. I look at this and look at Demon Traits, and I can literally (ha) see how I've matured as a fanfiction writer. Whereas in my first story I was goofing off and causing it to be more lighthearted, I think this one is more descriptive, and I can add to the mood better.

Please review.