Well here I am, just on time, on Saturday. Yesterday, I just remembered my deadline, and today I totally forgot about this volunteer thing at Grays Park…so I rushed it…but here I am! Sorry for any weirdness but here the 8th chapter, enjoy!

Disclaimer: do I really have to say it every chapter? But oh well, I don't own Shaman King…sadly.

My Light in Pitch Black
hapter Eight: More Memories

"But mommy, I don't want to go inside yet," a chibi Ren shouted from the backyard. He was helping the gardener redecorate the flowers and so far he was doing pretty well.

"Now Ren, we went over this last night and you promised you would be good," Ran said, her voice still sweet as ever. It was half past noon and she was already dressed in her usual outfit, one that very much resembles Jun's.

"Alright," Ren said, getting up reluctantly. He didn't bother to dust off his dirty covered pants and broke into a run for his mother's open arms.

Picking him up gingerly, Ran smiled and carried him to his room. "Honey, the guests shall be arriving very soon. I want you to treat them like the host, since your daddy's away with your sister, alright?"

Nodding, Ren heard his mother close his bedroom door. A maid stepped up to him and led him to his walk in closet.

"What do you have in mind, Ren-sama?"

"Just something semi-formal," Ren said bossily, despite the fact that the maid was probably twice his age.

"Yes, Ren-sama," she said and without searching, she found the perfect outfit.

"Would this do?"

"Yes," Ren answered curtly, as he allowed her to help him get dressed. Standing before a tall mirror, Ren smiled with satisfaction at his final appearance. He was wearing black long sleeve with a purplish-gray t-shirt on top. His shorts were a darker shade of purplish-gray than his t-shirt and to top it off, his coffee brown runners sophisticated his look.

Spinning around on his heels, Ren marched towards the living room, with the maid behind him. When a dark oak door came into view, Ren ran his hand over his outfit and gave his hair a final pat, before the zombie butler opened the door for his master.

Taking a quick glance of everyone in the room, Ren bowed until the top half of his boy and the bottom half made a right angle. When he got up, he saw his mother smiling warmly at him and next to her sat a beautiful blond woman, who looked about 20.

"Your son is very handsome. What's his name, you say?" the blond woman said sweetly, waving to Ren.

"Ren Tao," Ran said, motioning for Ren to come sit with them. Ren obeyed and plopped himself onto the seat next to his mom.

The other woman's smile grew and she said, "Isn't he an adorable little boy?"

At the thought of being called adorable, Ren gritted his little chibi teeth quietly. Luckily for him, the woman didn't notice, but his mom did and gave him a stern look.

So Ren sat there, staring at his shoes, as his mother talked with the guest. After a while, a gentle knock came from the door and Ren offered to open it, despite the fact they got butlers for these kind of stuff.

Jumping off the leather sofas, Ren walked politely towards the door, and had to tiptoe to get the doorknob. When he opened it, he was greeted by a tall man in a white lab coat. His blond hair hung gracefully over his eyes, which were a beautiful shade of blue and his pale face outlined it perfectly.

Behind him was a girl about his age, wearing a pale yellow kimono with daisy patterns. Her hair was pure red, like those red you would find on a pen's cap, and it was tied up in two high ponytails by pale yellow hair ties to match her kimono.

Her eyes were, if possible, even redder than her hair. Although her skin was fairly colored, her eyes made it look pale. Feeling Ren's gaze on her, she came out from behind the man and took a deep bow, which Ren returned with a bow just as deep.

"This way," Ren said, stepping aside for the man and girl to get in. After they all settled on the sofas, Ran turned to Ren sweetly and said, "Why don't you show her around the house while the adults talk?" referring to the red-eyed girl.

Nodding, he took the girl's hand and led her out of the room. Closing the big oak door behind him, Ren let go of the girl's hand as they strolled down the hallway.

"My name's Ren, what's yours?" he asked politely, trying to start a conversation with the shy girl. He turned to her, to find her smiling.

"Nice to meet you Ren-chan, my name's…" she started happily, but then Ren found that something had interrupted her.

"Ren! Wake up! Anna says it's dinner."

Ren wearily rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times, still thinking about the dream he just had. "That dream…" he muttered to himself as he got from the couch. The little nap he planned on taking ended up to be a deep slumber, he realized, wiping his drool before entering the kitchen.

On the dinner table sat the delicious deals Tamao, and with the help of Pirika, prepared. As Ren sat down on his usual seat, he noticed that he was the last to show up.

"Where's Sapphire?" he asked curiously, earning weird looks from Pirika, whereas the others saw it as a common question.

"She said she won't be home for dinner," Anna said coolly, as Horohoro eyed Ren carefully. Horohoro was given 3 hours and 30 minutes and he still hadn't recovered Sapphire's bracelet from Ren.

Ren, though worried about Sapphire, did a very good job not showing it. A boring yet loud dinner proceeded and soon the sun sank and the silver moon took over the sky.

Ren and the others have been kicked out of the living room for being too loud and were now hanging in the kitchen. As he sipped on his bottle of milk, Ren up got quietly and exited from the back door. Gazing at the glittering sky, Ren climbed the metal ladder that led to the roof. Laying his back on the cold roof tiles, Ren could feel his mind empty out. All emotions were leaving him…well almost all. He was still thinking about his fiancée and the girl in his dream.

It can't be her. Sapphire has black hair with red streaks, not just red hair, though theirs eyes are doubtlessly the same. And even if that was her, how come I don't remember it at all? And who were the other two?

The stars had always helped him in the past. Like before the battle with Yoh Asakura, they had warned him, and he had misread their warning, thinking victory was reserved for him. But what he won was not success, but friends, loads of them. But now, as if the stars are angry with him, they would show nothing, not the slightest change.

What's wrong with me?

"Ha," a girl laughed in triumph as she laid down her last card, "I win again." With a happy sigh, the girl leaned back until she was lying down. She heard groans fro the other players and smiled at the misfortune she was causing for them.

"You were asking for it when you suggested Big 2. I'm like SO good at this game!" She exclaimed, flicking back her hair, causing the black and red to blend color.

"Damn, we should've played something else," a girl across from her said, crashing her cards onto the pile.

The other two nodded, also dropping their cards onto the heap of cards. "Rematch!" the boy to her right cried out, already reaching for the cards to reshuffle.

Placing a hand on the stack of cards in his hand, Sapphire shook her head. "No, I really got to go home now. I'll come back tomorrow to play, alright?"

The three nodded slowly and helped Sapphire to her feet. "Promise?" the boy said, holding up his pinky.

"Promise," Sapphire said firmly, wrapping her pinky around his. The girl who had sat across from her during the game has her arm around a drowsy Ichigo. "Here you go," she said, handing him over.

"Thanks," Sapphire said, taking Ichigo into her own arms. The four bid their farewell and smiles were exchanged.

Quietly closing the door behind her, Sapphire stepped into the busy streets after refusing a ride to Yoh's place. Ichigo stirred from his sleep and hopped onto her black and red hair. Humming a happy tune, Sapphire skipped the rest of the way home.

The boy silently stood up against his window as he kept his eyes on the hyper girl on the streets, skipping merrily down the sidewalk.

"Master," said a man from behind him in the dimly lit room, "are you sure it was a good idea to let her leave?"

The boy turned around, but his features were hidden by the darkness. "Are you questioning my decisions?" the lad said coldly.

The man took a bow apologetically. "No master, I was just curious," he responded, his voice lacking emotions.

"Curiosity killed the cat, Warner," he said, his tone with a deadly coldness. "Plus, my plan is foolproof."

He turned back to the window, and a smirk could be seen on his reflection. "And soon, that worthless brat will get what's coming to him."

CLIFFY! HAHA, I feel so evil…well, that flashback took up a page and two thirds…guess you can say I was stalling! Please forgive me…but I'm going to put an end to that deadline thing…it made me panic! I couldn't think GAWD it is killing me….so I'll still try and update more often! ;D

Thank you my reviewers!

Dreammistress Jade: hahah! I'll tried to update sooner…but oh well, here it is!
PurPLeDoUGHnuts: :) glad people still like it…writer's block is killing me!
Andrea Nefisto: Their names, eh? Well, I was kind of thinking of the rocks…but that works too!
It's u noe who: hahah, thx! Can't wait to read your stories!
Pendulumxswing: :)