I about to see one of my good friends for the first time in about three years! . Yah! So, I'm here in the car, and well, I have nothing better to do than write. And now we've experienced a minor traffic jam, so suddenly it scared me. Where are all these cars going? Its a weekend, for crying out loud!

But anywho...

Review Corner!
Kyoyama kita- Uh, didn't I use that? I know for certain its in my original, and when I uploaded it, it must have messed up. Well, now that I've edited this piece and its still not working, I realize that it just doesn't accept my seperations. Not me fault! XP I'll try to find some way to counter this, just bare with me for a while. Sorry!

Bow-down-to-Keiko- How could I forget? NUMERO UNO FAN, MAN!

Merissala- Well, you don't expect me to tell you everything, do you?

I don't own Shaman King. Trust me, its better that way.

Several curses flew out of his mouth. He knew it was a bad idea, just knew it! Letting that human lover out of sight for even just one minute would prove disastrous while they were in such close proximity to Tokyo. They shouldn't have come to Tokyo, it was a bad idea from the start, but his stupid sister just had to "suggest" the trip.

He grumbled, standing on the rooftop of an office building. He could see every person on the ground clearly, could sense the energy patterns of all. None of them were important however. The demon had escaped his grasp once again, and now that he was off on his own, who knew how hard it would be for him to come back?

"I'll have to take you to base later, I've got some more work to do..."

Anna nodded, leaning against her door. She and Lyserg had had an interesting chat. It seemed that Saydr had some interesting tactics and goals. Since all she knew was being a priestess, it was the perfect job opportunity. What else could she do? Besides, judging how Lyserg had been so eager to talk to her, it seemed that Saydr had desperate need for her.

"Its alright," she said. "You know where to find me."

Lyserg smiled brightly, tipping an imaginary hat. "It was nice talking to you, Miss Anna. I'll contact you tomorrow."

Anna nodded briefly as Lyserg went down the hall into his own apartment. 'He's back to being the shy boy that never comes out of his room,' she thought. What did he do in there, anyways? She had never gotten around to asking him. She went into her room, turning on the light automatically. Everything was in order, in undisturbed bliss. As usual. She sighed. This peaceful life was getting to be too much for her. She missed the times when her life was hectic. That was one of the reasons she wanted to join Sayder. If there was as much demonic commotion as Lyserg said, then Anna's life would no longer be so dry and boring and once again take on that activeness that it had when Yoh was still around.

Yoh... she sat on her bed, looking out the window. When would he be back? He had said he was going to come back once two years was over. It had been almost three years! She was struck by those old thought demons that used to haunt her. What if he had found a more suitable girl, a fire demon to share his time with? What if his old enemies had tracked him down and seriously hurt him- possibly killed him? It wasn't unlikely that something could have happened to him. All she had to go by was her faith in Yoh.

Frustrated with her thoughts, Anna got up and started to busy herself with the task of cleaning her apartment. If she had stayed in front of the window for a bit longer, she would have noticed the piercing eyes gazing at her from the streets.

'She's in there,' he thought as he looked at the building. There was a faint light behind the window curtain, and he could see the silhouette of her slender form. Almost immediately he could feel those old instincts cease him. He wanted to see her again, he wanted to finally do all the things he had dreamed about...

He tore his eyes from the window, shaking his head. 'I need a drink,' he thought to himself. Maybe Horo's place was still open? He sighed as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. He would have to take the long way, Ren would surely be looking for him along the more common routes. And he didn't want to go back now, no, he deserved a break. He started to walk slowly in the direction of Horo's restaurant. He was in no hurry.

Horo ducked, cringing as the blender crashed into the wall. "Tamao..." he whined as his mate grabbed the closet thing to hand- a lamp.

She growled at him. "You! Spending the night at a stupid bash, probably with a young demon at your side! Why'd you even come back here, hmm? Go back to that young girl's arms, seems you enjoy her company more than you do mine!"

"Tamao, I would never do that!" Before she could throw the lamp in her hand, Horo was out the door. He sighed pitifully as he listened to Tamao sobbing angrily inside. He sunk to his knees, pounding his head with the heel of his hand. Tamao thought he was having an affair... it was something different every night. She had been rather touchy lately, but she had never gone as far as to proclaim things like that about him and try to bodily harm him. "What happened?" he asked, standing up. If only Yoh was still in town. In cases like this, he would have gone to Yoh's place and spent the night. But he wasn't here, and well, he was on his own.

It looked like another cold night at in the back room of his restaurant.

By the time he arrived to the restaurant, the temperature had seemingly dropped twenty degrees. What he would give to be back in his warm bed with his loving wife by his side. He unlocked the back door and staggered in tiredly. There was already a small cot set up in the back room. It wasn't his first time having to spend the night at the restaurant. But there was no blanket. Where had he left it... under the counter so that it could get washed later on. It had never made the trip to a washing machine. Oh well, it was still usable. He made his way out to the main part of the restaurant, still in a pitiful mood. He was surprised to see a figure sitting at one of the tables, looking at something in front of him. "We're closed, buddy," Horo mentioned before bending down to get the blanket. 'Stupid customers coming at night,' he thought bitterly. 'The closed sign and the locked door should have been a hint...'

Wait. He stood up, staring at the figure. He couldn't see him well in the shadows, but there was something familiar about him. "Who are you? And how'd you get in here?"

"You gave me a key a long time ago incase I needed to get in here," was the reply. Horo blinked before laughing to himself.

"Can't stay away, can you?"

"'fraid not," Yoh said as he stood from the table. In his hands was a piece of paper. "I just came from Anna's place."

Horo turned on a few lights and got out two glasses. "What did she say?"

"I didn't go in."

"Ah." He got out a bottle of wine, pouring some for Yoh and himself. "So what have you been up to for all this time?"

Yoh paused before handing Horo the piece of paper he'd been holding. Horo took it with a confused look on his face. "I passed by the police station on the way here," he explained as Horo looked the paper over. On it was a picture of three individuals. Horo recognized every single one of them. There was Ren and his sister, looking as if they were oblivious to the camera that was taking their picture. However, Yoh was staring right at it, a dead expression on his face. "WANTED!" it read across the top with big, bold, red letters. "Homicide Suspects."

Horo groaned, running his fingers through his spiked hair. "Not again," he muttered. Could this night get any worse? "When will you learn to stop hanging with the wrong crowd?"

"What could I do, Horo? Ren knew who Anna was, were she lived. He blackmailed me into it, and now, he's blackmailing me so I can't get out of it."

Horo handed Yoh the glass of wine, his eyes still on the paper. "I've never even seen this on the news... has it reached the human news system?"

"I think so... do you think Anna will find out?"

Horo laughed dryly. "If she watches the news, then it would be impossible for her not to."

Yoh groaned, taking a huge gulp from his drink. As always, it was some of the best booze he had ever tasted. It was too strong for a human, but it was perfect for him. However, the strength of the liquid didn't seem to have its usual effect on him tonight. He was just so worried. Even Horo seemed anxious.

"Why are you out here anyways?" he asked, distracting himself from his troubles for a moment.

Horo visibly deflated. "Tamao's been... moody lately," he admitted.

"She kick you out?"

He shook his head. "I kinda left on my own before she could. This isn't the first time this has happened. This week."

Yoh frowned. Last he checked, it had only been Tuesday. "Wow. That bad?"

"Unfortunately. I've been coming here to sleep when she gets like this. We hardly ever spend time together anymore. Every time I come in contact with her, she has something else she's mad about." He sighed. "Tonight, she accused me of having an affair."

"Is there any evidence behind that?"

"None that I know of. Well, I did go to a bash recently, but I thought she knew I would never do something like that."

Yoh smiled a bit, leaning on his elbow. "Females."

"Not just any female. My Tamao."

Yoh laughed loudly, finishing his drink. "Well, you don't have to spend the night here, its too cold, even for someone like yourself. You can stay at my place tonight, in a proper bed. Heck, I'll even treat you to breakfast."

Horo smiled. Just like old days when the two used to hang out all the time. Without the worries of females or world domination. For a few hours they could drink and laugh and share stories, forgetting all about their troubles. Horo put away his empty glass. "What are we waiting for?"

"Oh my goodness!"

"I recognize him! He's all over the posters on the human buildings."

"Who's that with him?"

"Probably some comrade in evil."

"I don't necessarily think its evil, what he and his crew do."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, they could go about it in a different way, but what they're doing would benefit our kind everywhere."

"By killing off humans? What good is that going to do?"

"I told you, they could do it differently..."

"Well, as soon as the fools get off the streets, the better. We don't need them dirtying our name and race."

"Who knows? Maybe this will help us in the long run."

Ren licked the blood off his fingers as he walked away from what was left of the unfortunate body that happened to get in his way. The night had been wasted in his futile search for the idiot human lover that actually called himself a demon. He had his suspicions that he had gone to the little human girl's place, but she wasn't at her old place, he had checked. What if he had found a way to contact her, however? That would spell disaster for sure. He couldn't have Yoh falling back in love with that girl, it would ruin everything.

He had only one more place to check- Yoh's old home. Right now he was only a block away, and his anger was growing with every step. He turned the corner and nearly fell as he ran into the very demon he was looking for. Growling, he grabbed Yoh's shirt and slammed him against the wall. "Where were you?" he said through clenched teeth.

"Get you hands off of me, Ren."

Ren growled again but complied. Yoh brushed himself off. "I was at my place with my friend. I was just going to find you."

"What friend?"

"Horo Horo. You remember him, right? Ice demon, blue hair, married to Tamao..."

Ren sighed. "Yes, yes, I remember," he said distractedly. "Now come on, we've got work to do."

"What work? Killing off more humans?" Yoh laughed, sniffing the air idly. He paused, sniffing again. "Why do I smell blood?"

"There's a dead body not to far back." He chuckled. He was already relaxing a bit. As long as Yoh didn't go to that human's place, everything was alright. "Its still fresh."

Yoh smiled. "What about work?"

"Jun made me search all around the city for you, I'm sure she can afford to wait a bit longer."

Anna made her way down the familiar road, humming to herself. Lyserg was going to meet up with her later, but for now, she had some time to kill. She had decided to visit an old friend that she hadn't seen in ages. Just for the demon, she had bought a small pink stuffed raccoon. It seemed like something Tamao would like.

She knocked on the door to Horo and Tamao's home, waiting with the gift behind her back. She didn't bother to touch the doorbell; Tamao had demon senses, she would be able to hear the knock from any portion of the house. A few minutes passed with no sign of the demon. Anna knocked again, growing a bit concerned. 'Calm down, Anna,' she thought. 'Maybe she's just out.' Somehow, though, she had a feeling that wasn't the case. After a few more minutes, she pressed the doorbell. This time there was a reaction from inside. The curtains of the window moved aside a bit, and then the door opened.

Anna gasped. Tamao certainly looked worse for the wear. Her clothes were sloppily put together without care, and her hair was untamed. Her eyes were red and puffy, and there were red streaks down her cheeks that obviously came from tears. She tried to smile, but only succeeded in making her lips twitch a bit into a type of grimace. "Anna, what a pleasant surprise. Please come in." She moved out of the way for Anna to come in.

"Tamao, what's wrong?" Anna stepped inside, slipping off her shoes. This caused what little strength Tamao had to break. She started to cry.

"Oh, Anna, everything is just so confusing. Horo Horo and I have been getting into these fights, and I've become so irrational. I accused him of having an affair, Anna. I know my Horo would never do that! I don't know what came over me, I was just so angry that he went to that bash instead of spending time with me, but why would he want to spend time with me? I'm so violent, I wouldn't want to spend time with myself! And I still haven't told him yet!"

Anna guided Tamao to the living room, sitting her down on the sofa. She placed the stuffed animal on the coffee table, holding Tamao's hand comfortingly. "Told him what?"

She placed a hand over her stomach, sniffing. "Anna, I'm going to be a mother soon!"

Anna gasped. "Congratulations! Thats good news!"

"But Horo's all but deserted me..."

"No he hasn't," Anna reassured her. "Every woman... female goes through it. Its just mood swings. I'm sure if you or I tell Horo, he would understand. He wouldn't forsake you. He loves you."

Tamao sniffed again, wiping her eyes. "You think so?"

Anna smiled. "I know so. But this is great! You're going to have a baby! Do you know if its a boy or girl?"

Tamao placed her hand over her stomach again. "I have a feeling... its a girl."

"Then lets go shopping! We can get things for your baby! Some cute clothes, some toys..." she paused. "What kind of toys do demons give their children?"

Tamao smiled. "I remember going through several chew toes while I was teething. And I also had a scratch post to amuse myself with. And a few toy soldiers that would always be eaten by the favorite stuffed animal of the week."

"Well, that sounds... appropriate for a demon," Anna said with a laugh. "We can go and get that stuff at the mall. Oh," she picked up the raccoon, handing it to Tamao. "Consider this a present for the little girl."

Tamao took it with another smile. "Thank you, Anna. Let me get myself cleaned up, and then we can go shopping."

Well, thats overly long. Longer than my average chapter. Oh well. It should last for a bit.