A/N: I'm really sorry I haven't updated for sooo LONG! Please forgive me! My computer just came home from the computer shop. It was a good thing this chapter was still in there. I'm really really sorry!

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King!


Chapter 4

"Where are you going, Yoh?" Tamao asked as she watched Yoh walk pass her without a greeting.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Yoh turned around and looked at Tamao. "Oh hey Tamao. Sorry, I guess I didn't notice you. Ren's coming tonight and we'll hit the pool right away."

"Oh." Tamao looked at the floor, "Are you sure you're well now, Yoh?"

Yoh nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. "Yup, I sure am! Thanks for watching over me for the past two days, Tamao. Amidamaru told me you nearly slept a wink."

Tamao began to blush, "Um…you're welcome, Yoh."

'She's blushing again' Yoh stared at her for a while making her blush even more. He remembered thinking how 'cute' she was whenever she blushed. But, right now, he felt that he would never think of it as 'cute' as it was before. Hearing a knock on the door downstairs, Yoh turned around. "Well, I guess I'll see you at dinner."

"See you later, Yoh." She muttered.

"What took you so long?" Ren complained as Yoh opened the door.

"Sorry Ren." Yoh apologized, "I was upstairs. Come on, let's go to the pool!"

The two sat in the pool for nearly an hour without saying a word to each other. Ren looked at Yoh who had his eyes closed. He thought Yoh had forgotten about why he asked Ren to come over and fell asleep. But something in his mind told him that Yoh would never fall asleep if he had something important to tell Ren.

"Ren? Hey there, buddy! Can you come here tonight?"

"And why would I want to go there?"

"I have something important to tell you."

Ren sighed impatiently, "You told me you have something important to tell me, Yoh. Now shoot."

Yoh opened one of his eyes and looked at him, "What's the rush, Ren?"

"Just say it."

"Oh okay." Yoh closed his eye and sighed. "I wrote some songs earlier. Do you think we can add it to our album?"

Ren stood up and aimed his fist at Yoh, "You mean I had to come all the way here from my house just to know you wrote new songs!"

"Yeah." Yoh opened his eyes and stared into Ren's yellow ones. "But it's kind of different from our other songs."

Ren sat down again, "Different?"

Yoh nodded, "I know you may not like these but I really want to put them in there."

"But we have to practice it with the band." Ren reminded him, "We already told the studio that we'll do it on saturday."

"I know." Yoh closed his eyes again, "That's why I asked you here, Ren. I want you to sing with me in one of those songs."

"What?" Ren exclaimed, "Are you daft? Perhaps you're forgetting that I don't sing well unlike you."

"Of course you sing well, Ren. I remember hearing you sing last month." Yoh grinned at the memory. Their manager wanted each of them to sing. Ren chose to sing one of the songs he wrote.

Ren sighed, "What's the song about?"

"I knew you would agree, Ren!"

"I haven't agreed to sing with you yet!" Ren snapped, "Just tell me what the song is about. What makes it different from our other songs?"

"It's kind of like…a…" Yoh opened his eyes and looked at the water. "A love song."

"Go on…"

Yoh looked at him for a while surprised that Ren did not began to shout that he would never sing a 'stupid' love song. He looked back at the water as he continued, "It's about finding the courage to tell this certain girl that you love her."

Ren sat beside Yoh quietly for a few minutes before he said, "Alright. I'll sing the song with you."

"Really, Ren?" Yoh looked at him as if he never thought he would hear the words he had hoped Ren would say. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Ren muttered, "But, if I don't get the song right, I might as well not sing it."

"Thanks, Ren." Yoh smiled, "You're the best. Oh, and the other song's a love song too. But I want t it to be my solo. Can we add that too?"

Ren chuckled, "Yesterday, we only had a few songs and now we may have enough to complete the whole 120 minute tape! What's your other song about?"

"Well, it kind of tells a story." Yoh placed his hands behind his head and looked up at the stars above them. "The story is about a boy who likes two girls. He liked one of them because she was nice, caring, and really cute. But he doesn't know exactly why he liked the other girl. The other girl told him that she loved him so much but thought that he doesn't like her back. So she left and he felt as if his world came crashing down around him. A friend of his advised him to think really hard who he really loves. And, now that he chose the girl who left, he hopes that his words would reach her…find her…and tell her that he loves her."

Ren opened his mouth to ask where he got that story, but he stopped himself when Anna came to his mind. 'Could it be possible that the other girl was Anna?' He asked himself, 'After all, she did left with out telling anybody but Yoh. She is Yoh's fiancée…could she possible be that girl and Yoh the boy?'

"Erm…Yoh…" Ren hesitated. If his theory was true, Yoh might not want to talk about it.

"I know what you're thinking right now, Ren." Yoh suddenly said, "You're thinking that Anna's one of the girls in my song, right? The girl who left? Well, you're right. I made this song for her."

"You love her?" Ren asked.

"Yup, I sure do." Yoh sighed, "And, just like in the song, I don't know why I love her. She just feels so special to me and I know I'm going to die if I lose her completely."

"And who might be the other girl?"

"Tamao."

"Good." Ren murmured to himself.

"What did you say?" Yoh looked at Ren curiously but he knew exactly what Ren said.

"Nothing."

A teasing grin went across Yoh's face, "You were relieved that it wasn't Pirika. Weren't, you?"

Ren shook his head at once, "No bloody way!"

"You like Pirika!"

Ren's cheeks turned into a deep shade of red, "I do not!"

Yoh stood up and yelled, "REN LIKES PIRIKA! REN LIKES PIRIKA!"

Ren quickly stood up and placed both his hands over Yoh's mouth. "Shut up!" But Yoh didn't. Even if his voice was muffled, Yoh continued to yell about Ren. "Okay fine! I like her! Now shut UP!"

Yoh yanked Ren's hands away, "Yes sir!"

"I've always thought you like Pirika." Yoh admitted.

Ren looked at him, "You did?"

"Yup!" Yoh leaned his head back on his head again, "Ever since we went to that cruise. You couldn't stop staring at her during the party and you even danced with her!"

"Well I never thought you liked Anna." Ren said, "I expected you would like Tamao much better because it's been pretty obvious that she likes you."

"I liked her, yes, but I never thought I would love her." Yoh looked at the stars, "She was a childhood friend of mine and I intend to keep our friendship. But, even though I know I'm going to marry her, I never thought of her as more than a friend. Well, as we grew up I began to like her a bit more. I never realized it but…I began to love her. I was too blinded to see it… it was unfortunate for me to only notice now that she left."

"Was it hard?" Ren asked.

"What was hard?"

"Facing the pain of her leaving and having to choose from two girls."

"The pain has never ceased, Ren." Yoh told him, "It will only disappear when I see her again. It's very painful…more painful than having to face Hao in a battle." Yoh sighed, "Having to choose between Tamao and Anna is really hard…it kind of feels like choosing between sleep and food."

Ren winced, "Sleep and food?"

Yoh grinned, "Yup! Erm…Tamao is sleep and Anna is the food. Like in choosing what is more important for you to live, I had to choose who was more important for my life."

"I don't get it…" Ren looked at the water, "Why do you love someone who likes to torture and yell at you a lot rather than someone who's kind and gentle to you?"

"I can't find the right words to tell you, Ren." Yoh replied, "All I can tell you is that I feel so different when I'm with Anna. With her around, I feel as if I can just challenge you or all of the shamans in the world. Without her, I look for her. And, when something's bugging her, I get this feeling and I try to cheer her up. My heart is completely in control whenever she comes by. Actually, when she makes me do that training program of hers, the mere thought of her boosts me up and helps me finish her training."

Ren looked at him for a while before looking back at the water again. "Do you think Anna's way of making you fall in love with her is by bossing you around?"

"Um…" Yoh thought for a few seconds, "No. When she became six, we went into separate trainings. My grandfather trained me to become a shaman, while my grandmother trained her to become an itako. My grandfather was always bossed around by my grandmother so she taught Anna to treat me like that, I guess."

"Oh, so it was your grandmother's fault then."

Yoh sniggered and looked at him. "What about you, Ren? Why do you like Pirika?"

Ren shrugged, "Probably because she's a combination of…" Ren raked his brain for examples, "A combination of Anna and Tamao, I guess. Most of the time, she acts so sweet but she has a short temper." He shrugged again, "I like it. Even if we fight a lot lately, I could never stay mad at her. I always wanted to be with her…"

"You should tell her at once…." Yoh said, "You should tell her before you lose her. It would be much harder if you waited until she was gone."

"Once I get enough courage." Ren muttered.

Yoh grinned, "You'll find the courage when the right time comes."

"Yeah, maybe I will." Ren stood up, "We better practice now. I'll stay over tonight."

Yoh stood up too with a grin on his face, "Okay. But we grab some dinner first. I'm hungry!"

'I envy the way you hide your feelings well, Yoh.' Ren thought.


A/N: Again, I'm sorry for the very late update. Please review! I hope you liked it! By the way, thanks for the reviews that you guys gave me!