I've Always Called You Anna

A/N: Ello readers :) This is my second Shaman King fanfiction and it's also a oneshot. Instead of it featuring Anna and Yoh though, which is my prime/alpha fav couple in the series, this one is about Horohoro and Anna. It's a onesided fanfiction so be warned. I've written this story because I've noticed how Horohoro always calls Anna by her first name even though he knows he'll get in trouble for it. Anyways, here it is. I hope you enjoy! XD

PS: All those still waiting for me to update my other fanfiction, I'm sorry XP Please bare with me for the time being. I'll update it as soon as I can!

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Typical. Yeah, that was the word to describe this day. Typical.

… Unfortunately.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Anna finally snapped, glaring monstrously at those who dared to interrupt her Saturday afternoon soap opera. "Why are you people always here?" she roared. "You're like homeless rats!"

Those who were previously quarrelling froze completely at the sound of the itako's voice. "Ne, Anna," Yoh started nervously, sitting comfortably by the wall. "They're only having a little bit of fun," he said with that usual boyish grin.

Anna's cold, cold glare fixed on him for that split second before she harshly turned to point at their 'guests'. Or, as Anna mentally described them, the 'every day intruders'. "Every single day I have to put up with the lot of you," she bit out coolly. "I don't understand why you can't just have your 'fun' at your own homes!"

"I thought you knew why, Anna-dono," Ryu said, a tear in his eye. These tears were caused by his unbending passion for his dream and the fact that Anna still scared him witless. "I'm currently searching for that home! In the mean time, where Yoh-dono and Anna-dono is, that is my home!"

Ren crossed his arms, sitting cross legged on the living room floor with the rest of the boys. "Other than that, we always help you do some housework, don't we? I think that's a fair trade for letting us visit this house from time to time." Although he wanted to smirk at the itako, he didn't dare. He wanted to live for at least a few more years.

Yet, despite the fact that Ren wasn't looking at Anna's direction, he could still feel her burning glare practically roasting the back of his head. "Only because I remind you to aid Yoh in his chores," she said darkly. Reminding wasn't exactly the right word to use, truthfully. "I wouldn't mind it if you visited from time to time but that's not the case here. For some reason or another, you're always constantly within these walls, with all your weapons visible as if expecting a fight. Why is that?" she sneered. It pissed her off even more since she was missing out her show. With all the noise these shamans created, it was impossible to even hear what the actors were saying.

"We can't help it," Chocolove snickered. "It's too fun here. There's really nothing we Kwan do about it."

Silence.

Then something sharp and painful jabbed into Chocolove's nose. "Make my weapon an object of your atrocious jokes again and I'll gouge out your eyes," Ren threatened, eerily calm.

It wasn't a second later did the house fill with pained yells and heated arguments once more, commencing in that daily routine. Horohoro laughed loudly, finding entertainment in Chocolove and Ren's brawling while Manta simply tried to calm the two down, not wanting to evoke the wrath of the blonde itako a second time that day.

"Ehh, it's a shame Lyserg isn't here," Ryu sobbed. "If he was, he could've enjoyed these happy memories with all of us too."

Yoh shrugged. "It can't be helped. Doesn't he live too far away anyway to visit regularly?" He glanced towards Anna who had been too silent for his own comfort. Like Manta, he also didn't want to make the girl angry twice in one day. While his friends continued to bicker and bark, Yoh turned to face them, sitting up straighter. "Eh, guys? Perhaps you should quieten it down a bit," he said warily. "Please, for your own heal--"

Someone's hands slammed down on the table, interrupting Yoh's too accurate warning.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare up at the enraged itako who was now standing, her black eyes ablaze. "You know, I really hate to be ignored," she said, her tone dangerously low. "I also hate it when freeloaders believe they can just stay in this house without doing anything productive or useful. Not a day has passed where I've let you do anything you want and I'm sure as hell ain't going to let you start doing so now."

Once she was sure she had everyone's attention (she had it from the beginning though, since ignoring her so directly would've spelled death), Anna pointed to Ryu and Chocolove. "You two are going to clean this house from top to bottom, starting from the attic. If I see a single dust particle out of place, you'll be joining Yoh for his shaman training."

Their jaws hit the ground at the ridiculous notion. "What?" Chocolove spurted in disbelief. "Have you forgotten that you told us to do that last week? And when we forgot to dust a vase, you made us climb three mountains with stones as dead weights? Why would we clean the whole house again when we've just done that? Are you crazy?"

Once Chocolove was immobile on the floor, sporting five, swelling bruises and a broken pinky finger, Anna said, "Sorry, Ryu. I guess you have to clean the house by yourself until Chocolove wakes up." She gave one, too-sweet smile. "Do you have any objections?"

Ryu shook his head from side to side quickly, sweat dripping down his face. Wise decision, Ryu. He quickly sped away, carrying the unconscious Chocolove behind him.

Anna's sharp gaze then snapped towards Manta and Yoh, who were trying to escape as they crawled towards the nearest exit within the room. "Where do you think you're going?" she demanded, the promise of pain in her very voice.

The two halted in their movements, slowly turning their heads to face the itako. "Ne, ah, I thought I saw a bug here, Anna," Yoh said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I just went to squash it, that's all."

Manta sweat-dropped. "Y-Yeah, I saw it too," he said in agreement, despite the fact that he was horrible at lying. "I was just about to tell Yoh not to kill it or else its b-blood would stain your floorboards. Wouldn't that be a shame, eh, Yoh?"

The orange-headphone wearing teen nodded vigorously. "Yeah, yeah. Like Manta said, it would've been horrible if it had stained on the perfect floor, right, Anna? Hehe, silly bug. Lucky I didn't kill it, ne?"

They both laughed idiotically, knowing that their lies wouldn't fool her at all.

Anna walked towards them and all Manta and Yoh could do was sit there, petrified as she neared. Once she was close enough, she slapped them both with one swing. "Try lying to me again and you'll regret it," she said calmly. "Now you two must clean the backyard and front yard. After you've finished with that, I want you to fix up the roof. Some ghosts have been saying that the condition up there is getting worse." She glared at both of them. "Understood?"

The two nodded, tears in their eyes, hands pitifully nursing their swelling cheeks.

Finally, Anna turned to Ren and Horohoro, whom had both stiffened due to the attention she was suddenly giving them. "It's almost lunch," she said, regaining that emotionless façade that she was renowned for. Her irritation for the lot of them was carefully hidden behind that pretty mask of indifference. "I want you two to get the groceries and cook us the meal."

"Aw, Anna, they get the easy job!" Yoh whined.

A vein popped inside her head as she spun around to glare murderously at her fiancé. If he didn't die right then, that is. "Are you arguing with me?" she asked coldly.

Immediately, Yoh shook his head and bowed repeatedly in apology, already beginning to sweat. "W-We'll go do what you asked of us now, Anna!" he announced, grabbing Manta and speeding out the room like no tomorrow.

Once he was gone, Anna faced Ren and Horohoro again. "I'll write you down a list of what you have to buy," she said, once again in that cool composure. She took out a piece of paper and a pen from a drawer and began to write the ingredients upon the table. "That way, not even you two morons could get it wrong."

"Hey!" they both protested, utterly offended.

"Don't put me in the same pile as this idiot," Ren snapped, pointing rather rudely at Horohoro with his thumb.

"That's right, we're not--Hey!" Horohoro glared at the purple-haired boy angrily. "I dare you to repeat that, shark-head!"

"Bring it on, mountain ape," Ren smirked. "I'm not afraid of you."

"No… You should be afraid of me." Then suddenly both Ren and Horohoro found themselves being strangled by a necklace of blue beads. As they struggled fruitlessly, they looked up to see Anna towering over them like a dark tyrant.

Both paled to a degree of unhealthiness until Anna finally decided to let them go. They fell to the floor, inhaling that precious thing called air.

"What the hell, Anna?" coughed Horohoro. "I swear, you're getting more and more violent by the day."

"Haven't I told you not to address me so familiarly?" the itako questioned coldly. "And perhaps one of the reasons why I've been so harsh is because you've become more irritating than usual as well."

The look Anna was giving him caused Horohoro to tense. "Oh really? Have I?" he asked. "You don't know half of it, Anna. In fact, I can be much more annoying than this." He dared to poke his tongue out at her, causing Ren to flinch in fear of his friend's safety. "Anna, Anna, Anna." He blew a raspberry. "Bleh!"

The look she was casting him was murder. With a quick flick of her wrist, she had Horohoro by the neck again with her beads. She pulled him towards her, their faces an inch apart. Horohoro couldn't help but gulp, wondering if his spontaneous actions would be the foundation of an early death. "Do not call me by my first name," she warned darkly, tightening the beads. "Call me Anna-san,"-tighter-"Or Anna-sama,"-even tighter-"Or most preferably, Anna-dono." She tightened the beads to the point where Horohoro's face looked slightly blue. Ren could only stand there, petrified, unable to move a single limb in his body to help his dying friend. "Understand?" she asked coolly.

Although he desperately needed air, Horohoro nodded his head up and down. Just as Anna was about to loosen the beads though, he then stuck out his tongue at her and said in a raspy voice, "Hear you loud and clear, Anna."

Anna's expressionless mask broke to reveal the unhidden rage she felt at his disrespect. Ren decided to look away from the following events, wincing every time he heard a smack or a crack. The pounding Horohoro was taking was probably above the violence rating Ren could handle without the sight physically hurting him as well.

After awhile, the domestic abuse finally stopped and Ren gathered his courage to examine his friend's state. Needless to say, Horohoro was almost dead, his spirit Kororo crying beside his bruised body. Ren flinched when the impassive itako walked towards him and roughly gave him the piece of paper.

"Groceries," she said simply in that dull tone. Without another word, she turned and walked out of the living room, leaving an eerie silence behind her.

Ren exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding and crouched beside Horohoro's unmoving form. He began to poke his ribs. "Idiot," he said blandly. "Get up. If she comes back to see we haven't left yet, both of us might suffer severe physical punishment."

All Horohoro could do was groan in response, his bruised body trembling at his efforts to stand up.

With a sigh, Ren picked him up and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "You're lucky I consider you a friend," he said gruffly. "If I wasn't, I would've left you here for Anna to finish you off."

Horohoro whimpered in reply, unable to even complain about the degrading way he was being held. He'd rather leave in this embarrassed state than to be left behind, all alone, facing Anna's wrath. His body and mentality couldn't handle two intense beatings in the same hour.

So off they went, exiting the house of Funbari no Onsen and towards the supermarket. The day was still young, the sun blazing down from the blue-painted sky with spots of white, puffy clouds. It was almost the perfect day. As Ren continued to carry the groaning Horohoro, people pointed and whispered at the strange duo. Little kids would loudly ask what they were doing to their parents, their response a quick 'hush, hush'. Ren ignored their comments and stares, walking onward to the grocery store with the list of ingredients tightly crumbled in his fist. His patience, though, was wearing thin as Horohoro continued to groan and whine.

"It's your own damn fault, you know," Ren finally snapped. "You should've just did what Anna asked of you. If you had, you wouldn't be in so much pain right now."

"Urgg…" Horohoro responded, aching all over.

Rolling his eyes, the purple-haired teen continued on his lecture. "What's so hard about calling Anna Anna-san? All you need to do is add an honorific at the end of her name and she wouldn't be pissed at you so much. You're so stubborn sometimes."

Horohoro groaned and thumped his fists on Ren's back. "You can put me down now," he said, wincing. "I think I'm good to walk on my own."

What he didn't expect was Ren dropping him completely, Horohoro hitting face-first on the cement walk path. Angered and annoyed, the ice inu instinctively sat up and glared monstrously at Ren, nursing his aching head. "Jerk! You didn't need to drop me," he said, grumbling. He slowly stood up, his body shaking. Ren just watched him with a mix of pity and amusement. "Arg… Damn that Anna…"

Once again, Ren rolled his eyes. "Well, at least now you've learnt your lesson, right, Horohoro? Next time you address her, add an honorific, for your own sake."

They continued walking again, Horohoro slowly recovering from his beating. He managed to keep up with Ren and replied, "Pft! No way am I going to call her '-san' now!" he said indignantly. "If she thinks that being all intimidating and violent would get her anything she wants, she's got another thing coming!" He winced. "Ow, ow, ow… Damn, even breathing hurts."

Ren glanced at him. "I bet you wouldn't be talking so tough if she was actually here." With a sigh, he finally asked, "Tell me the truth now. Why are you so stubborn about calling her just Anna?"

"I'm not stubborn!" he denied, crossing his arms with some difficulty. "It's just that I'm not going to roll over and beg for her, since everyone else seems to."

Ren shook his head, not believing that excuse. "If the alternate option is death, a normal person would," he stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "And trust me, Horohoro. Knowing Anna, the beatings will just get worse and worse until you finally succumb to her dominance." He unintentionally shivered. He felt so bad for Yoh. "Just let it go already. What are you trying to achieve by calling her 'Anna'?"

Horohoro was saved from answering when they finally reached the grocery store. The ice inu found a free bench just outside the building and collapsed on it. "I'm too hurt," he said, pouting. "Can you go ahead and do all the shopping yourself?"

The Chinese young man scowled in detest. "You lazy asshole. If you can walk, you can help me carry some of the food."

"But Ren," Horohoro whined pitifully. "Have a little sympathy. I just went through the traumatic experience of one of Anna's severe beatings. What? Are you so weak that you need help carrying a few grocery bags?"

"Moron." Ren intentionally stomped on Horohoro's toes. "If you really think that, I suggest you see a shrink. Idiot."

As Ren left him, Horohoro grumbled a string of curses as he rocked his wounded foot. "That fat bastard, how much does he weigh?" the blue-haired boy snapped. "For a midget, he's incredibly heavy!"

Once the pain dwindled into numbness, Horohoro looked up towards the sky silently and sighed. "Stupid Anna," he muttered beneath his breath. "Why can't you just let me…?"

In truth, the whole reason why Horohoro called Anna by her first name was because, well, he liked her. He didn't love her, far from it, but the feeling was still there, tugging at his heart whenever he was near her, whenever they spoke or interacted. Of course, he would never tell anyone this, much less Anna herself. It would only cause more problems that would amount to nothing.

Besides, he thought to himself. Anna and Yoh have each other. I shouldn't get between them. His hands created fists. Probably one of the reasons why he started to like the blonde itako in the first place was because of the way she would treat the brown-haired airhead. Although Anna would still mercilessly torture him, abuse him and verbally demean him, there was something about her attitude towards Yoh that was different, that caused Horohoro to be just slightly envious. It wasn't that she was gentler with him; in fact, she was even harsher with Yoh. Horohoro just couldn't place why that would bother him and it annoyed the crap out of him because it still pissed him off even though he didn't know why.

The shaman linked his hands behind his head as he closed his eyes. Although he knew that Anna would never look at him the same way she looked at Yoh, he still hoped a stubborn hope. That by calling her 'Anna', it would give the illusion of them being close friends and not simply people who interacted because they both knew Yoh. That by calling her 'Anna', he could fool himself that their relationship would someday grow to be something more. That by calling her 'Anna', she might finally acknowledge him as 'Horohoro', someone who would be by her side if only she asked.

He would always call her Anna for as long as he felt a connection with her, for as long as the feeling in his heart was still there. By leaving out the '-san', there would be no mental barrier between them, no blockage to grow whatever there was to grow in their relationship. He would continue to call her 'Anna' just because he wanted to, because if he kept on persisting, maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't mind anymore.

He would call her 'Anna' so that perhaps, one day, she would finally accept him as a personal friend worthy of saying her name.

"What the hell are you doing, Horohoro?"

The shaman's eyes snapped open at that cold, emotionless voice. He almost fell off the bench when he saw Anna standing right in front of him, glaring down like he was nothing but a dirty bug. "A-Anna!" he exclaimed in surprise and instinctive nervousness. He couldn't help but blush and glance down due to his previous contemplation concerning her. It didn't help either when his first thought upon seeing her was 'she's so pretty'. "W-What are you doing here?" he grumbled, trying to make his voice gruff.

Anna narrowed her eyes at him. "I came because I remembered we ran out of soy sauce and didn't put it on the list." A pause, then, "And don't call me Anna, idiot." She looked around, not noticing how Horohoro's shoulders slumped. "Where's Ren? I thought I told you two to buy the groceries."

"Ren is," Horohoro muttered, unable to look at her. "He's inside."

"Then why aren't you helping him?"

"Because I'm sore and hurt and I have the bruises to prove it," Horohoro suddenly snapped, glaring at her. Seriously, why did he like this ice queen? Other than the fact that she was pretty, her personality was nothing to be attracted to. "You should know, since you're the one who caused them."

They glared at each other for a few tense seconds before Anna finally replied. "You deserved it," she said coolly. "You should know by now that you can't call me 'Anna'."

"Why can't I?" Horohoro questioned seriously. "Yoh calls you Anna. Why not me?"

"Because Yoh is my fiancé, idiot. We're allowed to call each other by our first names," she said irritably. "I thought you'd know at least that, Horohoro."

It was only then did he notice something. "But then why do you call me by my first name?" he asked. "I let you call me Horohoro, why can't you let me call you Anna?"

Anna didn't even hesitate when she answered. "That's an easy question. Horohoro isn't your real name, is it?" she asked calmly. "So therefore me calling you Horohoro doesn't count as me calling you by your first name."

"Ah…" was all he could say. He never thought of it that way before. There's no way in hell I would allow her to call me Horokeu, though. So, in that sense, would their relationship ever grow if both decided than neither could allow the other to address them by their first name? Thinking it that way only caused Horohoro's already scrawny hope to diminish even more.

Seeing his saddened, defeated expression, Anna became confused. She glared at him harder and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Horohoro shook his head from side to side. He could never tell Anna. Never. "Nothing. Just daydreaming, I guess."

"Hmm," Anna hummed, clearly not impressed. "Before I go inside the store to tell Ren to buy the soy sauce, let me just ask you one thing, Horohoro."

The shaman looked up, slightly surprised. It wasn't often that Anna would ask his opinion on something. "Okay, what?"

"Even with the all pain I'll surely cause you, will you ever stop calling me 'Anna'?"

She was giving him an intense look, something that truly did spell pain if he answered wrongly. Horohoro was once again forced to ponder why he would like someone as cruel and malicious as Anna the itako.

Was it because of her silky blonde hair that always danced about her face? Was it because of those dark, dark eyes that expressed both inner and outer strength? Or was it because of the way she trained Yoh so hard and strictly in order for the man she loved to fulfil his dream? Did he like her because Horohoro, too, wanted to see the other side of Anna, which perhaps Yoh has only seen? Could there be a softer her, expressed only to one man?

Perhaps that's what attracted Horohoro to her. He wanted to see her without that expressionless mask, he wanted to see her tender side, because he knew that she would only show that side of her to someone truly special. He wanted to be special. He wanted to be someone special to her.

Why?

Because Anna was someone special to him.

And he damn well knew that he didn't know the reason for that either.

Horohoro grinned that cocky smirk of his. "I've always called you Anna, Anna. Why should I stop now, after all this time?" His smirk widened. "Although, if you really wanted it, I could stop, since you've so kindly asked. So instead of Anna, do you mind if I call you Anna-chan? Would you be happy then? It's with an honorific after all."

An irritated tick appeared on her face as she glared at him furiously. She grabbed his collar and pulled him to his feet, despite his stiffness, and slapped him. Afterwards, she harshly pushed him towards the entrance of the grocery store. "You never learn your lesson, do you, Horohoro?" she scowled. "As extra punishment, you have to buy the soy sauce yourself." With that final note, she turned on her heel and began marching back towards Funbari no Onsen, her hands tightly fisted by her sides in barely contained anger.

Horohoro snickered despite his reddening cheek. While he stood there, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to find Ren, holding three plastic bags with the contents full. "What are you doing, standing and laughing like a moron?" the shaman asked with a roll of his eyes. "Seriously, what is wrong with you?"

Horohoro simply shrugged. "Eh, Anna came and left a few minutes ago. She told me to tell you to get some soy sauce."

"So that explains that red mark on your face," mumbled Ren. He glared at him. "Fine, but you get it. I'm not going back in there again. It's so full." He paused for a moment. "I'm curious though: why did Anna slap you this time?"

Horohoro grinned, as if proud of what he did. "Because I called her Anna-chan."

Ren shook his head, sighing tiredly. "I don't understand. Why do you irritate her so much? Why can't you just settle with the '-san'?"

"Well, I've always called her Anna," Horohoro smiled, walking towards the grocery store. "Wouldn't it be sad if I just stopped?"

Apparently, their relationship would never grow from being friends at the most, so Horohoro decided to protect what they had now. If irritating her and calling her Anna was the only way they could interact without being uncomfortable, then so be it.

Anything just to continue that odd relationship which only she and he shared. Not Yoh and her but Anna and Horohoro.

As Ren watched the whistling ice shaman enter the grocery store, he scratched his head in confusion. "What is wrong with him…?" he asked for not the first time that day.

The only conclusion poor Ren could come up with was that Horohoro secretly had a fetish for pain and actually enjoyed being beaten close to death by a certain blonde itako.

… He wasn't that far off, actually.

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The End

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KazunaPikachu