Spoilers: Through chapter 78

The Last Night

By Allegra

Yoh waved goodbye, as the bus Manta was on started moving. Leaving his hand in the air a moment, Yoh smiled as he sighed to himself, turning away. Evening was approaching, and Yoh wished that he had skipped school; it had eaten up half of his last day, and the entire experience of being thrust back and forth between shaman fights and homework was still incredibly surreal. Still, now that he would no longer be having that problem, part of him was glad that he went. Kicking a stone absent mindedly, Yoh made his way up towards the inn, carefree smile dropping slightly as he contemplated his final goodbye.

"Yoh-sama is out very late." Tamao said sadly, washing the dishes. "I guess he wanted to say goodbye to all of his friends." Anna sighed as she watched Tamao glance at the clock for the fifth time within as many minutes and set down her sewing.

"He's probably around." She stated coolly, standing up and stretching. "He has a lot to say goodbye to. You should go to sleep, leave those for tomorrow."

Tamao blinked, surprised.

"Um, alright." She agreed, placing a plate down cautiously. Eyes darting back to Anna to gauge her nonexistent reaction, Tamao dried her hands and went upstairs. Anna sat back down, and resumed her sewing.

Yoh smiled reminiscently, touching a wall of the old inn. It was well past midnight, but every time he had thought about coming home, there had been something else he'd wanted to say goodbye to, until he stood gazing down the well and admitted to himself that he was only looking for excuses. He'd been stalling, visiting old places he hadn't thought he'd miss for hours now, though he wasn't certain what he was putting off. Yoh sighed as he quietly let himself in, taking off his shoes and carefully tiptoeing towards his room. He knew that he should say goodbye to Anna, but he had no idea what to say. So, reassuring himself that she would probably just slap him for waking her up, Yoh passed her room and rushed through the motions of getting ready for bed before dropping onto his mattress.

A few minutes later, Yoh tensed when he heard movement and a clicking noise that sounded dangerously similar to Anna's sandals. Laying still, he didn't respond when she stopped in his doorway.

"You're very bold." Anna stated, watching his still form. Yoh remained silent. "You come home late, and then go to bed without even saying goodbye to me?" She continued accusingly. Yoh was well aware of the fact that she knew he was awake, but couldn't find any words to respond. "Tamao made dinner for you, you know, she was sad when you didn't show up. I had to send her to bed before she started crying." An uncomfortable awareness made Anna stop, and the two drifted into silence.

"How can you act like nothing's happening?" Anna demanded when the silence became suffocating, voice wavering slightly. She 'hmph'ed to mask it. "Tomorrow's a special day. Here are the things your grandfather sent you," Yoh felt something land on his legs, thankfully cushioned by the comforter "and I re-sewed your whole battle uniform, so you'd better not forget them tomorrow. Good night!"

A lighter package fell on Yoh, who listened to the clack of Anna's sandals hitting the floor as she retreated from the room. However, the brisk pace slowed not long after she left, and Anna was still within earshot when she stopped. Unsure if he should be thankful for or cursing the thin walls of the inn, Yoh waited.

"You've really become strong, Yoh." He heard her say quietly. Anna leaned against the wall separating them, reflecting on the fact that whenever they had a heart-to-heart, they seemed to need a physical obstruction between them. Shaking her head slightly, Anna focused on the subject at hand before she could get lost in memories.

"And you can still remain so calm, despite everything that's happening. I guess… I'm the one that doesn't want you to leave. So," There was a faint click, as Anna shifted away from the wall, uncharacteristically nervous. She walked back a bit and stopped by the wall just before his door.

"Since you're leaving tomorrow, tonight… can I sleep with you?" She asked, voice barely above a whisper. Yoh was silent a moment, before finally shifting to a half-sitting position.

"Okay."

Ren grumbled to himself as he made his way through the dark street, Bason gliding beside him. Spear in hand (just in case), he trudged towards the Asakura household.

"I'll be seeing that idiot in the tournament anyway, there's no need to visit." Ren grumbled.

"It is rather late, Young Master." Bason agreed.

"Hmph, he told to me to come if I got here early; if he's not awake then I'll just beat him until he wakes up." Ren said irritably. Bason kept quiet, smiling slightly; it was best not to point out that Ren was only annoyed because something had compelled him to make good on the request. Apparently the young shaman was not yet completely comfortable with the idea of regarding Yoh as a friend.

"Here it is." Ren muttered, turning and walking up to the doorway of a huge inn. He rapped on the door several times, before crossing his arms haughtily and waiting. After several seconds of silence, the tiniest hint of patience in him evaporated, and he banged his fist against the door again, barely waiting a second before walking around the building.

"He really went to sleep!" Ren fumed. Stomping across the grass, he tried to remember where Yoh's room was located. The building was huge; if everyone was asleep then it would be impossible to find it. Grinding his teeth, Ren was considering breaking a window to get someone's attention when he heard a noise coming from inside. Stopping, he looked up at the second floor curiously, trying to pinpoint where it had come from. After a few moments he heard it again, it was a… moan? Cocking one eyebrow, Ren briefly engaged his oversoul and used the spear to propel himself up, landing in a crouch on a lower rooftop. Straightening up, he cautiously made his way over to a nearby second-story window.

"Anna…" Someone groaned. Surely that wasn't… glancing in incredulously, Ren stiffened at the sight before him, too frozen with horror to avert his eyes. Bason looked around Ren's gravity-defying hair-spike and gasped in shock.

"What are they-"

"Sh!" Ren hushed hurriedly, backing away from the window.

"But Young Master, Miss Anna and Master Yoh- they're so young!" Bason said as Ren hurried away from the scene, thoroughly scandalized.

"What are you so worked up about, didn't couples traditionally start families about that age when you were alive?" Red demanded, blushing heavily. He was quite certain that he'd never be able to look at either of them the same way again.

"Yes," Bason admitted, calming down slightly. "I just never expected-"

"We are never talking about this again. Ever."

The following afternoon, Ren stood outside one of many food stands set up by the Patch Officials, sampling food as the men working behind the booths did their best to catch his interest, humiliatingly giddy to be receiving pay.

"Ren!" A boyish voice shouted behind him. Groaning to himself, Ren turned around to see Horohoro waving him down, Ryu and Yoh in tow. "Why the hell are you going for this stuff?"

"Didn't expect to see you again." Ren grumbled, trying to keep his attention trained on his food. Despite his best efforts to think of something else, the mental image of last night was burned into his mind, and he found himself wondering how the hell Yoh managed to top. Using all of the willpower he possessed, Ren managed to not gouge his own eyes out with the kebab he was nibbling on.

"Why didn't you come over to my place, since you got here early?" Yoh asked innocently, grinning at him. Ren looked at him incredulously.

"You wanted me to be there last night?" He asked, fixing Yoh with a look that he hoped said 'I know what you did last night and you owe me a new pair of eyes'.

"Oh, um, I guess not…" Yoh trailed off, blushing sheepishly. Well, at least the glare had half-worked.

"Why's your face all red?" Horohoro demanded. Ren chuckled evilly as Yoh reddened further, resolving to use the scarring incident to his advantage and mock Yoh as often as possible.

Looking up at Silva thankfully when he approached to change the conversation, Yoh glanced at Ren fleetingly and wondered how he had known. Maybe some men just sensed these things.

AN: Must… get off… 1 a.m.…Shaman King kick… Nothing good can come of this.