*Truth's Rhapsody*
by: WhiteGloves
Shaman King's already a classic, neh?
One of the cutest couple around!
Let the FUN begin!
Manta gave out a sigh.
He was looking at his wallet.
It was empty.
Looking at the person walking beside him, he found his best friend's girlfriend, Anna Kyoyama, walking with him in her school uniform with that usual impassive look on her face.
And she still looked like that after buying everything she asked Manta to.
Making him penniless.
The little brown haired boy sighed again.
"Why do you sigh so much?" Anna said after they turned a corner on the corridor without much of a glance at him, "do you want to say something?"
"I want to but I know it'll all only come back to me," the little boy muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?"
"Ahh...n-nothing, don't mind me," Manta looked up at her, "but this is a surprise... I never thought you and Yoh would actually attend this school year... after everything..."
Anna glanced sideways at him without much of a change on her expression.
"What are you talking about? Yoh and I are still young and therefore still students. It's only right that we continue studying before we get married."
Manta smiled with a sweatdrop at the side of his face.
"So you mean to say after graduation, you and Yoh are finally going to get married?"
"That's what has been agreed on," she replied quietly, "it's been decided a long time ago."
"Hmm... so Yoh does decision like that too, huh?"
"Not really."
"Ehh? You mean you decided that on your own?"
"Something wrong with that?"
"Ahh..yie... which reminds me... where's Yoh?"
"Beats me."
Manta grinned a bit forcefully at her with the idea that if Yoh doesn't stand up as his own man in their future family, he will surely be manhandled alone by this strong willed girl.
That was when Manta noticed a guy standing on their way.
Both Anna and Manta stopped to look at the guy. He was taller than both of them with that kind look on his eyes. Manta recognized him to be an upperclassman ahead of them by a year. If he was not also mistaken, this guy was also a member of their baseball club and a regular at that.
What was an upperclassman doing there standing and blocking their way?
"Do you want something?" Anna said in her usual don't-give-me-crap attitude that always manages to put people on their places. Manta stared at the guy who merely smiled.
"You're Anna Kyoyama, right?"
Anna didn't even give a blink but the guy continued to stare at her. Manta had that impression that something was up as the guy raised a hand for a shake.
"I'm Seichi Narumi."
Anna stared at the hand and then up at the guy.
"So?"
If Manta was the guy, he would have turned ice at the cold treatment.
But Narumi continued to smile nonetheless as he took something from his pocket and handed it to Anna.
"This is for you."
As Anna took it, the upperclassmen grinned and waved at her.
"I hope you come!"
And he ran away after that.
Manta could not believe it. He stared thunderstruck after the guy and then slowly and uncertainly, toward the lady who has just received a love letter—an almost direct confession.
Anna looked at the letter before thowing it over to Manta and then proceeded walking.
"H-hey, wait, Anna-san!" Manta ran and caught up with her, "what am I suppose to do with this...?"
"Burn it."
"Say w-what? I can't do that? Aren't you even going to read it?
Anna didn't say anything, making the little boy stare up at her.
"I wonder if the guy knows you're already engaged to Yoh?"
"It doesn't concern me," Anna said without a second thought as they entered the classroom.
"But Anna..." Manta called after her. She didn't look back any longer, making the little boy confuse. But then as he looked to his right, he saw that his bestfriend was already on his desk and early that morning—was fast asleep.
Anna raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything to her sleeping fiancé.
"This guy," Manta murmured as he stood beside Yoh, "isn't he supposed to deal with things like this? He's your boyfriend after all... but look at him... sleeping here so soundly and we haven't even began class. It's a surprise he's this early."
"I made him run here early." Was Anna's answer to that.
"Eh?" the little boy smiled hopelessly at the girlfriend and then sighed at the letter, "what's gonna happen to this guy? It seemed that he likes you, Anna-san."
"As I told you," she said as she sat on her chair with still that impassive look on her face, "it doesn't concern me. Yoh is already my future husband and there's nothing that can stop it."
"Even if you both liked someone else?"
"I don't think that is possible."
"Hm? Why? Does that mean you like Yoh a lot too?"
"What kind of stupid question is that?"
"Haha... you're right... knowing you two, you won't agree on something you don't like." Manta looked from Anna to Yoh knowingly with a contented smile on his face, "but I can't help but feel curious as to how Yoh would react to this letter? Do you think he'll be jealous, Anna-san?"
"Being jealous is not really in his personality, didn't you know that?" Anna said rather quietly as she stood up and walked toward the boys. Stopping in front of Yoh's chair, she watched him sleep peacefully and added, "That sort of look doesn't fit him at all."
For the first time, Manta saw Anna in another way as she watched her fiancé with that sudden caring look. It made the little boy stare and see even for a bit—a glimpse of his two friend's relationship.
But it was cut off when Anna suddenly pulled the letter out of his hand.
"H-hey... what are you planning to do with that?" he asked as he watched her walk away.
"Burn it." She said without looking behind her, making Manta's jaw dropped.
"You're cold," he muttered with a sigh.
Late that noon as the class ended, Yoh Asakura yawned and gave a mighty stretch as everyone of his classmate stood up to leave.
"You look refreshed," Manta commented as he waited for him beside his chair.
"I got a good sleep," Yoh said with his usual grin.
"I'm leaving first," Anna said to the two boys with that levelled eyebrows of hers, "don't forget to go grocery shopping, Manta."
"EH? Why me?"
Yoh blinked at Anna and then nodded.
"All right then."
And she left the two who looked at one another before leaving.
"Aren't you wondering where she's going?"
"Hmm?" Yoh looked at his best friend, while Amidamaru bobbled up and down beside his shoulder in his tiny head form, "not really... Anna knows what she's doing."
"Eh?" Manta glanced at his happy-go-lucky friend, "I see..."
"Is there a problem, Master Manta?" Amidamaru asked.
"Nothing... I just noticed how Yoh and Anna really trust each other."
"Hmm?" Yoh blinked at the little boy who smiled up at him.
"I'm jealous. I wish I can find someone I can trust like her."
Yoh and Amidamaru exchange looks before looking contentedly ahead.
"But you can trust your friends, can't you?"
"Yeah, that's true... but what I mean is something like what you have with her."
"Eh? You want to have a girlfriend, Master Manta?" the samurai spirit blurted out looking shock.
"Ahh—n-no, that's not really what I'm implying!"
"Eh? Then what do you mean?" Yoh paused to have a good look at the little boy, "is there something going on your mind about Anna and me?"
Manta stopped walking too.
"Well... I was just thinking since you trust each other you won't think too much over the fact that he's meeting another guy as we speak."
"Meeting another...?" Yoh inclined his head on one side.
"...guy?" Amidamaru did the same.
"He was all over her this morning, I just thought you should know,"
Manta watched as Yoh and Amidamaru exchanged another look.
"Master Yoh..." the spirit ball said, his words hanging.
"Amidamaru..." Yoh blinked at the ghost and then both started shivering as if they already pity the unfortunate man who dared cross the itako's way.
The little boy blinked.
"Hey, what's with those reactions?! And Yoh—aren't you worried about her?"
The Asakura boy grinned and snickered good-naturedly.
"Don't worry, Manta," he assured his friend, "As I've said, Anna knows what she's doing... if she needed any help she would have asked me without question. Since she wanted to handle this on her own then all I've gotta do is trust her."
Manta gave Yoh a look of complete admiration. And that was when he believed that when you love a person, you really do trust him or her. It was not a condition. It was only the most natural thing to do.
And the little boy found himself smiling yet again.
"You guys are really something," he whispered more to himself as they started walking on their way again. But then the little boy noticed that no sound of footstep followed him and had to look behind him for his friend. He found Yoh staring back at the school building.
"Yoh?" Manta called, blinking.
The Asakura boy looked at him slowly and then smiled quietly saying—
"Well... I still gotta go after all."
Manta watched as Yoh ran back to the school grounds without glancing back, leaving Amidamaru floating behind with the little boy. Manta watched Yoh's running back and had to smile again.
"You do care that much too, Yoh..."
Behind the school gym and under a tree, stood Anna Kyoyama, facing her upperclassman. She has her arms cross and that indifferent look on her face as she said not for the first time—
"No. I have a boyfriend."
Seichi Narumi looked undaunted as he edged toward her, smiling.
"Are you talking about that little guy with the sleepy face? Come on, Kyoyama-san, you can always do better than with him around."
Anna's eyes narrowed.
"Be careful of your words. You're talking about my future husband and no one can insult him in front of me."
The upperclassman stared hard at her.
"What do you see in that guy? Going so far as calling him 'husband'... don't tell me you're really into this old traditional engagement thing? Don't be such a dreamer, Kyoyama-san!"
Anna's eyes flashed and something like cold electricity was felt by the man in front of her who gulped in surprise.
"If that's all you need to say then I will leave," she said with closed eyes, "I don't intend to waste any more of my time with a guy who could not even take a girl's no for an answer."
Narumi gritted his teeth and the next thing—he pushed the blonde haired girl to the tree with such a force that caused her to gasp in surprise.
"W-what are you doing!?" Anna gritted her teeth as pain shoot up at her back from being manhandled.
"You're such a stubborn girl, do you know that?" the upperclassman said with a weird look on his eyes, "someone like you acting like you're a goody-two-shoes must be taught a lesson! So how's this? Want me to become your first?"
Anna's eyes widened but then—
"OI!" an angry roar came.
Both Anna and Narumi looked to where the voice had came from and found a dark brown haired boy staring at them with a very ominous look on his face. And Anna's eyes widened even more.
"Y-Yoh..."
The Asakura boy looked up and there were angry etches on his face no one had seen before.
"NO ONE TALKS TO ANNA LIKE THAT!" he said, his voice vibrating from sudden anger, "NO ONE! I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!"
And a suppression of cold air suddenly circled around, making the leaves of the tree swirl with such power and the clouds to move swiftly and threateningly.
Narumi watched this with his mouth hanging open and fear striking on his face. He let go of her shoulder and then took steps backwards looking frightened. Then his eyes fell on the boy who had started to take steps toward him with eyes as wild as the atmosphere he was seeing.
"Disappear." Yoh muttered so coldly it nearly froze the upperclassman's heart and with only a cry of despair, he ran away from them.
And just like that, the ominous force vanished. The blonde haired lady looked at the sky with her left hand pressing on her right shoulder.
"Anna!" the Asakura boy called as he strode beside her.
"You didn't have to scare him like that." She told him, straightening up and looking him in the eye.
Yoh blinked and then looked at her shoulder.
"Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"
"This? It'll take more than this for him to hurt me," she said quietly with eyes still on him, "but you could have hurt him if you meant it."
Yoh stared at Anna this time, and then out of nowhere—he frowned.
"He's the guy who hurt you. He should be ready to receive anything I throw at him and I wouldn't care. But why did you meet him in a place like this? Why did you meet him in the first place?"
At that—Anna really did stare at him. For Yoh to be saying something like that...
It made her smile a little.
"Are you implying I cannot take care of myself?" she snapped all of a sudden as she confirmed once again, her carefree boyfriend's feelings for her, "because if you are..."
Yoh looked alarmed and confused.
"Look—it's not about you being unable to take care of yourself—it's more of me..."
"You?" Anna's right eyebrow rose into air. "Are you saying I'm weak?"
Yoh shut his mouth close.
"Ah... yie... I'm not saying anything like that..."
And the two started walking together.
"Then why are you lecturing me just awhile ago?"
"I'm not..."
"Do I look so weak to you?"
"Definitely not."
"Then what's our problem?"
Yoh pouted with Anna glancing at him briefly. That was when he finally sighed.
"You're not weak," he admitted after awhile as they watched Manta waved at them from the gate, "but at least let me try and protect you. That's my job here, isn't it?
Anna closed her eyes as the truth revealed itself.
So that's what it was.
Making her happy.
She held Yoh's hand.
"Idiot," she told him quietly, "of course I expect you to protect me whether I can or can't. You're my future husband after all."
;)
~The End~
Praises to Asakura Yoh and Asakura Anna!
Thank you for Reading!
