Dominance

Unnoficial Soundtrack:

A Little Less Sixteen Candles- Fall Out Boy

She's Got Balls- ACDC

Sly- The Cat Empire

Reasons Why- Nickel Creek

Yoh couldn't stop.

It had been four years. FOUR YEARS.

Son of a bitch.

As Yoh ran slowly and gently around the town he reflected quietly on the events of last night. Manta and Amidamaru constantly wondered just what got his daily assignments from Anna increased at such frequent increments. But Yoh knew. He knew very well.

It was because every time he snuck into her room and seduced her from her magazines, she promised to add another five miles and another 100 sit ups.

But how was he supposed to stop? The woman was intoxicating. Those who knew Yoh and Anna well might be surprised to learn that Yoh would presume so much, go so far as to invade Anna's privacy and ask intimate contact… they might be even more surprised to learn how very willing, even pliable, the girl was. Of course, that was the stereotype- predator in the open, prey in private- but even then Anna managed to tip the scales. She was no blushing violet- once Yoh had her full attention, she was all claws and bites and growls. He frequently wondered who was doing the seducing- was it him, was he coming to her for those few moments when HE was the dominant one in their relationship, or was he only coming back to her for more? Was SHE using her responsiveness, her painful awareness of her diminutive stature and longing for him, as yet another form of manipulation?

He couldn't really remember when it started, he thought, as he huffed slowly up a hill. He knew they'd been infatuated with each other for a long time- when they'd first met she'd come out and SAID in the first few days that she had a thing for him. He, for his part, had at first felt sorry for her, and then grown to find her not a subject of pity but of fear. Somewhere in between those was an irressistable pull towards this child-queen, this angry, embittered icebox. He had found himself wondering, as he sat on Monument Hill, what she would be like intimately. Would she melt for him? Or would she become even more frozen, more demanding? Either possibility fascinated him.

Unfortunately for Yoh, the subject of his affections could read minds. He did recall, suddenly, the first time. It had been morning, and he'd walked into her room with her breakfast- her pajamas had fallen open, and she was still asleep. Her face had looked so innocent without all the frowning and scowling she usually did- so he'd sat and waited for her to wake up, not touching her clothes in any way, admiring her slender form. They'd been maybe sixteen at the time.

When she woke, she found Yoh looking at her with his typical gentle smile, but with some new connotations. And he'd kissed her, as if it was the most natural thing in the world- and he knew she was okay with it, because she could read minds, so she'd have stopped him before he started if there was a problem- and everything had just run it's course. And again, the next day. And again. And every day they ran their course, the course he ran in the morning got longer.

He shuddered into his home, went to his room, flopped down, and started doing sit ups. He wondered if, given her mental prowess, she could feel how much this hurt?

"I can." Came a bored voice from the next room. "I like it. Keep going."

He finished and flopped down. When it got down to it, she was always going to be the dominant one. She knew what he was thinking without his saying it- he had to hear it from her mouth. Anyone would be hard put not to manipulate someone in those circumstances. She's always going to know exactly what to say to get him to do what she wanted.

She opened the door and walked into the room, sitting next to him in a parody of demureness. She gently removed his running shoes and patted his head, wiping the sweat off on his shirt. Then she said, "I've never lied to you."

He looked up at her. And, of course, smiled. Lying wasn't the same as manipulating. Putting spin on words was not much different from avoiding telling the truth. Not that they ever talked a lot, since she didn't need to hear her tell him anything.

"I do need to hear you tell me some things." She told him, as she pulled his shirt off and then started working on her own. He was puzzled. What did she mean?

She leaned down and kissed him fiercely. What was going on? Usually he was the one who initiated things.

"Because I like it when you show me that you want me." She murmered against his mouth. He gently pulled off her bandana and ran his fingers through her hair. He was sweaty. She was going to smell gross.

"I don't care." She snarled. The kisses took on a new ferocity. Then she stopped, and leaned back. "I love you, Yoh." She told him, in a voice as lively and warm as a tree in winter.

He smiled and leaned up to kiss her again, thinking about how beautiful she was, how much he didn't care if she manipulated him or used him or whatever- but she pulled back. She seemed to be waiting for something.

Ah.

"I love you too." He said, pulling her back. She nodded. "Words are better." She mumbled into his lips. "And tomorrow, you can take the day off."