I'VE UPDATED! I have finally set a due date for myself…if I do not update by Saturday, feel free to flame me! Sorry for the long wait, but here I am, updated!

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Thinking
Exaggerating
"Talking"

Recap: Sapphire put her hands up to surrender, causing the bracelet that Horo just gave her to jingle, along with her other accessories. "Fine, you caught me square and fair. What's my punishment, commander?"

My Light in Pitch Black
Chapter Seven: Reunion

Reluctantly, Sapphire pulled out anther sleeveless shirt and violently waved it in the air, flicking water everywhere. Damn that stupid milk, she thought, glaring daggers into the shirt.

"Would you watch it?" Ren's arrogant voice said from behind her. Turning around, the bone-yard sorceresses saw Ren wiped his face with a t-shirt from a basket next the her. A vein surfaced and popped in a matter of seconds. "REN! I JUST CLEANED THAT!" she bellowed, running up to him and snatching the top from his clutches.

Smirking, Ren waved something in the air. Frowning, the shaman plotted her revenge. That's my bracelet… She growled and halfhearted continued Ren's laundry.

Horo chose this moment to pass by the backyard and her face lit. "Horo!" she shouted, but instead of responding to her in anyway, he backed away slowly. Following his scared gaze, Sapphire saw Ren glaring at him. He had once again scared away another person that can possibly end her misery.

"Ren, when is my time up?" she whined, weakly hanging another sleeveless top in the sun. The Tao lifted his hand and eyed his watch carefully, as if threatening for its hands to stop moving. "You still got about, oh a few more…hours," he said mockingly.

Groaning again, Sapphire stared at the basket of sweaty clothing. "What do you do all day? Jump in a river? It's technically impossible to get this amount of cloths dirty in a single week," she teased, taking a tiny break. "But I guess it's not that hard for you, training day and night and day and night," she said, stressing each word to make her point.

Ren stopped working out and glared at her. "Well, excuse me for trying to reach my goal of becoming Shaman King," he commented and resumed to training.

Picking up a t-shirt drenched in sweat, Sapphire eyed it suspiciously. "Do I really have to wash this? I mean this is gross…it's soaked in your sweat!"

Ren smirked. "Funny. You would sneak into a filthy dungeon out of your own free will without complaining at all but whine the entire time for washing my clothes?" he mocked.

Sapphire's eyes immediately brightened. "How did you know I went in a dungeon?" she asked, her eyes made brighter with each breath he took. Then it hit Ren. How did he know? He just met the girl a while ago…even though she claimed to know him, he remembered nothing of her. Yet, he somehow knew she went in a dungeon.

Holding his head, Ren closed his eyes. This was all too weird for him. "Are you okay?" Sapphire asked with a worried voice, grasping his arm for support him.

"Ya," Ren said, letting go of his head. Lucky for him, Ichigo came in the backyard and spared Ren of the questions Sapphire would've asked him. Flicking his bluish white tail, Ichigo strides pass Ren and curled up under a tree, taking a nap.

Turning her head suddenly as if someone called her, Sapphire looked around frantically. "Ichigo," she ordered calmly. Ichigo got up abruptly and jumped onto Sapphire's shoulder. Getting up, she turned back suddenly, as if just remembering something. "Sorry, Ren, I'll finish up later, 'kay? Bye!" And with that, Sapphire ran out of the Asakura's Residence and into the streets and out of Ren's view.

Utterly confused, Ren stood there, trying to put together what just happened. He had a flashback, then his 'slave' just ran away. After a while, Ren decided to shrug it off and headed in the kitchen for a drink.

Pirika and Tamao were in the kitchen preparing dinner and both saw a confused Ren walk in. He was deep in thought, still wondering the unknown event that he somehow knew about.

"Ren-san?" the pink haired shaman said, trying to find out what can make the emotionless Ren look confused…not something you'll see everyday. Ren merely uttered, "Yes?"

"Are you feeling alright?" Pirika asked, concern covering her face. But Ren couldn't see it even if she was a centimeter from his face. He was bothered by his own problems. "Yea, I'm fine," he said in a monotone, getting up. Picking up a bottle of milk, Ren retreated to his room.

"What happen to him?" Tamao asked the Ainu girl, who was fuming with anger. Pirika would bet everything she has that this has something to do with Sapphire.

Stopping into an empty lot, Sapphire closed her eyes and held Ichigo in her arms firmly. "Come out, I know you're here, you crazy stalker."

"I am not a stalker! Maybe a little crazy, but not a stalker!" a girl yelled from behind her. Sapphire turned around and saw two figures. One was a girl in a white doctor-like jacket. Her crimson hat covered most of her short, brown hair. Next to her stood a taller, sophisticated looking girl with blue shades. She wore a white tank top with a light grey skirt.

"Sapph, stop calling Ruby a stalker," the taller girl said, causing the other to smirk and stick her tongue out at Sapphire. But she was not finished defending her sister, "It's not like she meant to stalk Johnny, he was too hot for her to realize that we were following her with a camera." The two snickered as Ruby turned a bright red, trying her best to deny it.

"Anyway, why are you guys here?" Sapphire said, sitting down on the emerald grass. The other two sat down and explained themselves. "Well, you've been gone for so long, we thought we'd check on you."

"Yeah, last time we left you for two days, you let robbers into our hang. Man, I still miss that DVD player," Ruby added, wiping away an imaginary tear.

Sapphire turned a little pink and quickly protected her innocence. "I told you! They drugged my dinner! Or else I would've beaten them BAD." The sisters laughed, enjoying the moment while they can.

"Wait," Ruby abruptly said. Pulling down Sapphire's lower eyelid, Ruby clicked her tongue loudly. "You've been doing that collecting-blood-in-that-funny-looking-glass thingy again, haven't you?" she concluded, crossing her arm and staring at her as if she was a puppy that just knocked over a vase.

"It's not my fault, Ren still doesn't remember me. It was all I could do," she replied briskly, staring down at the tall grass. Her two sisters stared at her wildly, and said in unison, "You knew him?"

"Of course I knew him! Remember that kid I told you about? The one that I met when I was on one of those trips with Faust, that's Ren!" she said, then held her head due to dizziness. "Thanks to him, I lost quite a lot of blood this morning. I even fainted."

Ruby clicked her tongue again and shook her head. "I told you, you shouldn't use it that often. You're going to die faster that way," she said jokingly, but firmly.

"Eh, no worries! It'll be fine," Sapphire said with a shrug. What can happen? Aimlessly, she let her eyes wonder around, until it reached her arm. "Wait," she started suddenly. "You mean to tell me you two didn't know I knew Ren?" The two shook their heads. "And you arranged a marriage, without my permission?" The two widened their eyes. "And you lied to me, claiming that Ruby did something bad to make them mad and needed a punishment?" The two looked at each other with fear in their eyes. A deep crimson aura shrouded Sapphire's figure, but two sharp red eyes remained in view.

"Whoa, would you look at the time! Four thirty already, I think we should be going now," Ruby said, tapping her watch.

Sapphire froze and the aura melted. "FOUR THIRTY! IT'S FOUR THIRTY!" she shouted unexpectedly, making her sisters jump in surprise. "Damn, I'll never finish those clothes in time!" she leaped up, as if she completely forgot what just happened. "Sorry guys, but I really got to be going now. You guys want to come over for dinner sometime?" she asked quickly, moving her arms frantically, as if urging them to answer faster.

"Um, yea, we'll see you back here in a week?" Crystal said, the two of them also getting up.

"Yeah, okay, see ya later!" Sapphire shouted, already half way down the streets. Crystal sighed. "Sometimes, I really worry about that girl."

"Hard not to. She's so careless," Ruby added. She too sighed and the two girls got up and headed home.

Dashing down the busy streets of Tokyo, Sapphire suddenly remembered something. "I forgot to tell them I found Faust," she whispered to Ichigo, who sat daintily on her head, "Oh well, I'll tell them next week. Plus, Faust should be back by then!"

As she stepped within view of the house, a dead silence was filtering out the street's noises. It was as if the dead air only affected this residence. Something's up, Sapphire can feel it. But what? Could it be Ren plotting the second part of her punishment? Could it be Horo stealing another batch of Tamao's cookies and got caught? Could it be Yoh slacking off and Anna's is now duplicating his training?

What ever it was, it probably had something to do with the pretty limousine parked in front of the house. It was plain, yet Sapphire found it very exquisite. A jet black limousine, who'd not like it?

As Sapphire admired the vehicle from afar, the door suddenly opened, revealing a boy, probably a few years older than her, in a fancy tuxedo. "Excuse me but do you know where I could find Miss Sapphire Valentines?" he said in a stern monotone.

"um, Yes, that's me," Sapphire said uncertainly. Who was this guy? Some kind of butler? "How may I help you?"

The boy bowed politely and motioned towards the limo. "My master would like to see you," he said, opening the passenger seat's door.

"uh…Thanks," Sapphire said with the same insecure voice, stepping into the car, only to find herself alone in the back of the car.

"Please put on the safety belt, I will be starting the engine in moments," the boy said in the same dead tone as before. Nodding, Sapphire clicked on her seatbelt. And true to his words, the boy started the limo almost immediately.

Feeling the vibration in her pocket, Sapphire pulled out the ringing phone. On the screen, it claimed that the caller was calling from the Asakura's place. "Hello?" she said gingerly, not sure which tone of voice to use.

"Hi Sapphire, it's Horohoro. Anna was wondering when you'd be home. And Ren's starting to complain about his clothes needing to be washed," the Ainu's voice came from the ear piece and in the background, loud shouting could be heard.

"I don't think I'll be home anytime soon, tell Tamao-chan she doesn't have to cook my share of dinner, okay? No need to wait for me," Sapphire said quietly, afraid to bother the driver, "Oh, you know that bracelet you gave me? Can you try and get it back from Ren for me? Please and thank you! Bye Horo!" And without waiting for his reply, Sapphire closed her flip-phone.

Looking out the car window, tall unfamiliar buildings zoomed by as Sapphire allowed her mind to wonder. Where is he taking me? She thought, and who's this master of his?

More time passed and the tension between the two hadn't lessened. The boy was quietly driving while Sapphire was impatiently sitting in the back, wondering all this time what was going on. After a while, the limousine had pulled up inside what looks like a parking lot. "We're here," the lad announced, getting out of the car. Walking up to the passenger end, he opened up the door next to Sapphire.

"Thanks." Sapphire looked around, and felt that something was missing…it was too quiet. A sharp gasp escaped her lips as she realized what she forgot. "Wait," she called out to the boy, who was already walking away, "I lost something, I have to find it first."

"Is this who you're looking for?" the boy's voice came from behind her. Spinning around, she came face to face with the boy and in his arm was, indeed, Ichigo. Unaware that the boy even was a shaman, Sapphire stared at him with awe.

Ignoring her gaze, he handed the fox spirit to her and pointed towards a direction "This way." Nodding, Sapphire took Ichigo in her arms. Wow can he suppress his shamanic energy well! I didn't sense a single thing, she thought, stroking Ichigo's back. 'Maybe you're just getting weaker,' Ichigo teased. Ignoring him intentionally, she kept her head up and followed the boy.

After walking across the parking lot and up a spiraling staircase, they came into a hallway, in front of a great wooden door. "We're here," he said, opening the door for her.

The door swung open but inside was very cloudy and everyone in it was masked with thick fog. "Welcome, Miss Sapphire Valentines, to our humble home," a deep masculine voice spoke from the misty room.

Minor cliffy! I know it's short…sorry once again…just please review! And it'll be nice…damn lil cousins…they're driving me crazy!