Author's Note: I'm scheming another Yohna plot so tada! Here I am sharing, yet again, another not-so-good story. Honestly, I was very disappointed with my first canon-comeback attempt, Afterglow. But still, I love the reviews I received in that story. I felt very much appreciated, even with my lack of talent. So here I am again with Doll, a short-chaptered story, also an AU and an obvious angst.

Note:

Bold are for Flashbacks and thoughts before the present incident.

Doll

By Tsukasa Mizushima

xOxOx

Chapter I:

When She Sees

xOxOx

…

I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairy tale
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet,
Lead her up the stairwell
This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town,
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down
Now it's too late for you
And your white horse, to come around

…

His lips touched hers like there's no tomorrow.

The sky was dark and a storm was on its way, but Kyouyama Anna found no need to stop or turn her head back to see if someone's there chasing after her.

She knew her fiancée very well, and she knew that that 'baka' of his won't ever take a step outside his house. Anna was positively sure that the boy hated her to the core and her never coming back was such sweet freedom to his ears.

She knew that by fact yet somewhere inside her heart she longed to look back and hope to see his goofy grin and apologetic face…

"Yoh,"

The wind grew harsh as she kept on. There were no houses anywhere, or even available shelter for the upcoming storm. All Anna could see are: valleys of green that turned darker shade, rivers gleaming with hesitation as it ran freely from an endless path, moonless sky that brought more sadness on her beautiful, stoic face, while the soft, creepy sound of creatures of the night howling in the background made her pace faster. Deep inside it was scaring her, not because she was afraid, it was because she can remember— the night of September 5th when her family was murdered in front of her eyes.

The blonde girl ran, her breathings becoming erratic, her lips heaving for sweet release of anxiety but before she knew it. She was down on the floor with scrapes and bruises on her right knee, right arm and face.

Damn, she was helpless.

Anna accidentally tripped on a stone. She didn't notice it. She was a bit paranoid and her body was quite tensed, muscles wouldn't even relax. She was afraid, so afraid that she wanted to turn back and cuddle in her room and just cry her eyes out when no one's looking.

She wanted to see Yoh and his stupid friends. She wanted to slap Tamao for flirting with her boyfriend. But she couldn't, her pride and her heart, if she even has one, is stopping her because that's how she is. Kyouyama Anna was strong and indestructible— physically and emotionally— no.

Anna was a person filled with pretends, no one knows that that's why she wanted to stay protected inside a warm, accepting family like Yoh's but that wouldn't happen now, would it.

"… Like that lazy Asakura would… wish me back—" her voice almost croaked, while her grip on the hem of her black uniform—tightened. Her knuckles turning white from the inserted pressure as she continued striding somewhere far, far away from them, the place she once called "home".

She didn't care about her wounds. She didn't care anymore. Anna just wanted to die right there and then, right now.

The sky restlessly cried with pure intensity. Anna couldn't do anything but keep on striding forward. She's in too much pain. She won't turn back, not to that house… not to those mesmerizing charcoal eyes, those heart-warming grins, those— those—

"… Stupid, Stupid! Yoh…" she cursed, tears cascading down her cheeks while her body trembled with the desperate call for warmth. She was cold, she was wet— she was broken. She's nothing… nothing to him, nothing to anyone.

"— I'm scared."Anna sobbed and looked at the sky. The storm was finally here and there was no sheltering place nearby. That's why she sat underneath the old looking tree and hugged her knees.

Tears kept on cascading down her beautiful face as she continuously coughed, while her slender frame kept on being soaked and thrashed by the piercing droplets of raindrops and the wild, unkind wind.

Anna was walking back home after a long day at school. She had finally gotten out of the stupid supermarket. The people there were suffocating her, and she wasn't the crowd person type— so being cold to almost all the people she collided to is very much normal for an ice queen.

For a change, the blonde girl bought and carried a few groceries so that she could cook something for her lazy ass of a fiancée. But when she reached their populated house…

She heard noises, weird uncommon noises she haven't heard before. She was about to shrug it off but damn, curiosity strikes the cat, so she followed the irking noises— and she found them… in the living room couch, eating each other like carnivores.

It's been three hours or maybe more. Anna didn't know. She was feeling rather heavy and tired. Her body wouldn't even stop shaking. She didn't know what's happening anymore. She just wanted to sleep and close her eyes for a very, very, VERY long time.

The blonde girl hugged her drenched body closer; her usually pale colored skin was much paler than before—like a ghost. The only thing that could even tell that she was alive was her flushed cheeks and her labored breathings.

"…It's so cold… I can't breathe—"

Anna could remember quite clearly that pink, demonic, glossy hair tangled in her supposed to be fiancée's arms as he pulled her head closer to his eager lips, deepening their formidable, poisonous kiss.

And fuck the world for her sin—

She, her best friend, was cradled around those gentle, strong hands the blonde so wanted to feel around her waist, while he, her fiancée, was encircled within her warmth, the warmth that should have been hers; her place—his heart. And God, just the very image of her shattered dreams vanishing in front of her eyes broke every little hope she had of her love being returned back.

She was foolish to believe in a happy ever after. She was too open to the fact that he would never ever leave her because he understood her. Even though, deep inside her heart, she honestly knew that she only had a one percent, actual chance that the brunette truly and deeply returns her feelings of unspoken love and adoration. She thought he appreciated her and understood her in every little aspect that she knew was wrong.

And honestly, she knows it, her very mistake. She knows how cold she was, she knows how distant she was, she knows how of a bastard she has been. But with her past, her cursed memory, she can't open up. He should have known that…

"—Yoh," she muttered in a desperate call before her vision started to blacken and all she can feel was a warm cloth being wrapped around her, while big, calloused hands carried her and pulled her closer to a warm chest?... maybe—

Before everything went totally dark and empty…

He should have…

…

Cause I'm not your princess, this ain't a fairytale
I'm gonna find someone someday who might actually treat me well
This is a big world, that was a small town
There in my rearview mirror disappearing now
And it's too late for you and your white horse
Now it's too late for you and your white horse, to catch me now

…

To Be Continued

Author's Note: I'll finish this story first before I continue with Footprints in the Sand: Lost Butterflies. It's a typical plot I know. I just want to type it, bleh! :D Next chapter, I promise it would be longer. I'll post the first chapter of Footprints before I update this one. I've already finished writing Doll with the "sweet and original" ending, if you guys want that. This story would only be three-chaptered, I guess. Oh yeah, thank you for the kind reviews guys. You know how I often say I SUCK,which I know I am. Yet, you guys kept me inspired writing so— Thank You Very Much.

Next Chapter Preview:

Chapter II:

When He Follows

…

With her body shivering and her color drained, he couldn't help but punish himself until he was satisfied that he had had enough and he could finally face her and tell her how much he really loves her. But for now, he needs her to survive. He would never forgive himself if he loses her now, not now when he finally found the answer to the nervous feeling in the tip of his stomach, the fidgety feeling when she's around… not now when he knows what it meant.

And the kiss, that stupid kiss that she saw…

He must tell her why he did it, why he had sinned against her. It literally doesn't mean that he kissing someone means that he loves that person, no! It was something he has to do to give all that he has only to her: his body, his mind, his soul— his heart. He did it to prove that he only belongs to her, only to her.

"…Hang in there, Anna."