A/N: My first Shaman King fic, please don't be too harsh on me. While I don't guarantee anything, this is bound to be a Mary-Sue (or else how'd you expect Hao to fall in love?) The focus, of course should be Ren but there's other pairings. I hope I can do this convincingly. Maa, hajimeyou ka?

Disclaimer: All copyrights of Shaman King does not belong to me, but I own the OCs.

"…" talk

'…' thoughts

= = = = changes in scene/time

Chapter 1: New Student

The sky was streaked with bands of orange, its grey hue slowing turning blue. A golden line far to the horizon slowly grew; tinting everything its rays touched a golden orange. Somewhere on the hill facing the sun, a girl watched the sunrise, enraptured. Dawn's light reflected in her mystic grey eyes. When the sun had rose, she left the rock she had been sitting on.

= = = =

At Shinlagakuen High School

Students grouped together, their noisy banter filling the room. Near the back of the class, an extremely short boy stood next to his classmate's desk, a smile on his face as he chatted happily with the brown-haired boy. Standing over the little boy, was a blond girl. She looked on icily as her fiancé listened to what his friend had to say, a smile playing on his lips. Suddenly, everyone scrambled back to their seats as the teacher entered the classroom. As they settled down after greeting him, the teacher began to make an announcement. "Minna, today we have a new student joining us." On cue, the classroom door slid open and a girl walked in. Long brown locks tied in a ponytail, she looked at the class with shining grey eyes. "Watashi wa Kibouno Shizu desu. Minna, hajimemashite." Shizu bowed and smiled. "I hope everyone will get along with her. Kibouno-san, there is an empty seat behind Asakura-san." "Hai." As Shizu seated herself, the headphones-bearing boy turned in his seat and greeted her. "Yo! Oira wa Asakura Yoh." "Hajimemashite, Asakura-kun."

= = = =

After school

The moment the bell rang, the class erupted into noisy laughter and talking. As Shizu slowly packed her books, Yoh and his friends gathered at her desk. "Asakura-kun, modoru desu ka?" "Aa. Sou da! Kochi wa tomodachi Oyamada Manta." Manta nodded and smiled, "Hajimemashite." "Yoroshiku." The blond introduced herself, "Kyouyama Anna." "Yoroshiku, Kyouyama-san." Shizu responded in a respectful tone. Together, they walked down the corridors, talking along the way. "Kibouno-san, where are you from?" Manta asked politely. "I just came back from Malaysia (that's where I live!)" "Malaysia?" Yoh looked puzzled, prompting a laugh from Shizu. Manta shook his head and explained to his best friend, "It's a country in the Southeast Asia region." "Sou!" Shizu smiled, glad someone knew of the country where she had spent the last five years. "I moved there five years ago, and I came back to Japan a few days ago." "Heh…" Yoh nodded in understanding. "De, Asakura-kun, where do you live?" "Funbari Onsen. Say, would you like to stop by?" Shizu hesitated. "Ii no desu ka?" Both Yoh and Manta turned to look at Anna. "…Ryu is cooking today." They took it that Anna allowed Shizu to come.

= = = =

At Funbari Onsen, Shizu's POV

I was rather surprised to see the building Asakura-kun called home. It looked like… "A motel." Kyouyama-san said to me. I nodded absently. It almost seemed like she read my mind. Asakura-kun just walked in, "Tadaima." "O kaeri nasai, Yoh-kun, Anna-san." A deathly pale man, with a head of blonde hair and bag under his eyes, greeted us. 'Woah, he's definitely not Japanese!' "I see we have a guest." Asakura-kun introduced me, "Aa, this is our classmate, Kibouno Shizu. Shizu, this is Faust." "Yoroshiku, Faust-san. Anou, Faust-san is…?" I cast a glance at Asakura-kun. "Boku wa isya desu." "Doctor?" "Sou." Kyouyama-san confirmed. Faust-san moved aside to let us in. I followed my newly acquainted friends into what most likely was the living room. After settling ourselves, Oyamada-kun began to ask, "Kibouno-san, what country is Malaysia like?" "Multi-racial. It's a nice place to live in, though I missed Japan." "Oh, Shizu, you're from Japan?" "Un. This is actually my birthplace." Kyouyama-san just raised her eyebrows slightly. Suddenly, a question popped into my head. "Anou, Asakura-kun…" "Yoh." I smiled and resumed, "Yoh-kun, are you living together with Anna-san? Oh, er, sumimasen for using your name directly, Kyouyama-san." "It's fine. And as to your question, yes, we live together." "May I ask why? I'm just curious." "I'm his fiancée." Realization dawned upon me as I nodded, "Naruhodo."

"Okami, lunch is ready. Oh?" An Elvis look-a-like suddenly entered the room. Before I knew what was happening, a bouquet of roses was in front of my face. "Miss, would you please go on a date with me?" "Er…" From behind me, I heard Yoh-kun saying, "Meet Ryu." "Ahehehe, Ryu-san, hajimemashite." I gave a nervous laugh and stepped back. Anna-san just glared at Ryu, who hurriedly put away the flowers and ran out, saying that lunch was ready.

Lunch was a pleasant affair, which involved a lot of talking about each of us. Manta-kun was just telling me about how he came to meet Yoh-kun when we heard a loud 'Hn.' I turned in my seat to see the source of it. There, leaning against the door frame, was a boy no older than Yoh-kun. His appearance struck me instantly. His hair had one pointed spike and it was an almost dark purple colour. It reminded me of the late evening sky. Then, he turned and locked eyes with me. Those sharp golden eyes made a strong impression on my mind's eyes. It was only for a second, as he turned to face Yoh-kun. Before he could ask, Yoh-kun said, "She's our new classmate, Kibouno Shizu. Shizu, this is Tao Ren." I found my voice and replied quickly, "Yoroshiku, Ren-kun." I was surprised at how smoothly that name rolled off my tongue.

Ren's POV

The first thing that caught my attention when I entered the room was the unfamiliar girl sitting at the dining table. The moment I met her eyes, I almost backed up in surprise. Her eyes were grey, almost silver and held gentleness in them. It also made her seem somewhat mysterious. I turned to regard the Japanese shaman I had come to call a friend. He seemed to read my mind and answered before I could ask, introducing her as his new classmate. "Yoroshiku, Ren-kun." She said it like we have known each other for a long time and it was perfectly natural for her to address me that way. Seeming to realize that, she looked down, embarrassed. I just nodded to acknowledge her presence. "Want to join us, Ren?" "I only eat Chinese." Yoh just laughed lightly.

After a little while of chatting (in which I did not participate) the girl, Shizu got up. "It's late and I think I should go now." "Would you like us to walk you?" Ryu lit up, eyes turning into hearts. "Iie, arigatou." Ryu's face fell. "I'd like to look at the stars while I walk." I merely raised an eyebrow. 'She must like nature.' "Oyasumi nasai." As she closed the door behind her, I got up to leave as well, waving a goodnight to the others.

Hajimemashite-Nice to meet you (Directly translated, it's something like 'This is the first time I meet you.')

Yoroshiku-Nice to meet you (another way of saying it.)

Oira-I (a term Yoh use to refer to himself. Accordingly, this term is usually used by boys from the countryside, as opposed to the more formal 'watashi/watakushi')

Modoru-Return/Go back

Ii no desu ka?-Is it alright?/Is it okay?

Isya-Doctor

Sumimasen-Excuse me

Naruhodo-I see

Okami-Madam (What Ryu calls Anna)

Iie-No

Arigatou-Thank you.

A/N: How's that for the first chapter? I hope that was satisfactory. Please review to let me know what you think. Flames accepted. No pointless ones though. Arigatou and ja ne! : )