Things had changed somewhat since the Shaman Tournament: things were different. The group of friends led by Yoh during the tournament had somewhat dispersed to attempt to return to the lives they once led before they had met Yoh.

However, there was one who could not go back to his old life: Ryu. Despite being five years Yoh's elder, Ryu had learned immensely from Yoh's lifestyle and treating of others, wanting to become more like Yoh.

One day, Ryu, still training under Yoh, asked him, "Master Yoh, how are things with Anna?"

Yoh, somewhat cheerfully, somewhat fearfully, returned, "It's going to be this November."

"So, how does it feel?"

"I don't know. I know I'm looking forward to it, but nonetheless I'm worried; from then on, there's no turning back, and I might just be ready for it. You know?"

"Sadly Master Yoh, I do not. It is a feeling that I have longed for all my life; you are very lucky to experience it at such a young age. I only hope that one day I will be able to know it."

"Don't worry Ryu. It'll happen to you soon enough, but I wouldn't say I'm lucky quite yet. Don't forget who Anna is."

After that day's training was over, Ryu went to his room and lied down on his bed, small but comfortable. He was missing something in his life: love. He had longed for love all his life, yet hadn't received it. Occasionally, he had infatuations with girls on first sight, but he never had love; his overemotional antics always seemed to do him in. Despite that, Ryu was content to go without love and follow Yoh, as he knew who Yoh was; his way of life was what Ryu wanted.

At dawn the next morning, Ryu awoke as usual to find his list of daily tasks on the back of his door. Nothing was out of the ordinary in that regard; Anna always had a number of chores for Ryu to do, yet it wasn't nearly as bad as what Yoh had to do every day of the year without exception.

As Ryu set about his cleaning of the house, Anna approached him. As soon as Ryu noticed the presence of Anna, he quickly stood tall and paid her his respect. Despite her height and build, Anna could strike fear into the heart of anyone, as Ryu learned when he first observed her wrath. Soon she passed without saying a word, leaving Ryu with a reminder to be careful to do his work properly.

It was again late afternoon before Ryu was done with his work. The house continued to look spotless to most anyone while Anna continued to criticize the work, as was what she usually did to better one's performance. Yoh just stood back and quietly chuckled to himself, because he knew that there'd be hell to pay if anyone disobeyed Anna's commands, but he also knew that Ryu's workmanship was wonderful and near-perfect. Ah, but that was simply daily life for the man.

Soon, the cool spring and summer days faded into November as Yoh and Anna's wedding approached. On that blessed day, Ryu was one of the men of honor as a young Chinese woman by the name of Tao Jun was chosen to be one of Anna's bridesmaids despite them not seeing on even terms at first. After the ceremony, the celebration was finally starting to commence.

After Yoh and Anna's first dance, others were allowed to join in the festivities on the dance floor, where Ryu was the reigning champion in his own mind. The men of honor all were instructed to dance with the bridesmaids, as it was on the other hand. Throughout the first hour, Ryu continually danced with all of the bridesmaids except for Jun, who sat in her seat waiting for someone to dance with.

However, Ryu grew tired after his hour of dancing and left the building to go have a smoke. As he sat outside near the flowers, he talked to himself, musing over the day's events. He started, "Now what did I forget to do? I know there was something that I forgot to do, but I can't put my finger on it. What could it be?"

Seeing him leave the building, Jun decided to go and give Ryu a piece of her mind, as he was not only supposed to have danced with her, but he was supposed to have danced with her first, not fraternized and flirted with every other girl there not married. She approached him fuming, with anger and resentment in her eyes.

She started, "So, where were you?"

Ryu, still confused, responded, "Oh, hello Miss Jun, what are you doing out here?"

She continued to fume, "Don't play dumb with me, Dance Man. You know what you were doing."

"I do?"

"So I guess that dancing with your partner is overrated. Is that the case Pompadour?" she said almost in tears.

Quickly realizing what he had forgotten, Ryu started to say to Jun, "Oh, that's what I forgot. My sincerest apologies Miss Jun, I didn't mean to forget about you."

"So you think that words can make up for your stupidity?" beginning to sob.

Ryu simply could not stand to see a woman cry, especially a woman who he knew. He attempted to comfort her by placing his hands upon her shoulders, but she slapped them away, repeating her previous words.

"No, I do not. Please allow me to make up for my mistake."

Confused, Jun asked him, "What do you mean?"

"Let me show you."

Ryu discarded his cigarette and proceeded to take Jun's hands in his own and started to dance with her, yet it turned out that Jun couldn't quite dance near the quality that Ryu could dance to, so the two decided to sit down.

Chuckling, Ryu asked Jun, "It looks like you can't dance."

Defensively, Jun snapped, "I know that; why bring it up? Do you want to make me feel horrid?"

Soothingly, Ryu told her, "No, that's not it, I want to teach you how to dance; that's all."

Somewhat shocked, Jun told him, "Well, I guess that's fine."

"Excellent."

Ryu again grabbed her hands and placed them behind his back while he placed his hands upon her waist. Slowly, the two began to sway back and forth, though not in complete unity. Ryu told her, "Soon I'll teach you more dances, but now we must work a little on this one; come back tomorrow." A light breeze blew in the air as the two separated from each other. After the dance, Ryu approached her and softly kissed her.

As he turned to walk back inside, Ryu felt a tug on his jacket. Jun turned him around and kissed him in return. So those two decided to sit outside and watch the stars. Before long, Jun fell asleep on Ryu's arm, leaving Ryu smiling and in good spirits. He softly whispered to her, "Thank you Jun."

Before the night was through, however, Ryu did have to wake up Jun so she could get home. After all, Ryu knew that he could not take a woman home, especially considering who her brother was. However, there was no doubt that Ryu was enjoying himself; this was the first time that a woman decided to stay with him for longer than roughly ten minutes.

Softy, he nudged her so that she would awaken. Slowly she opened her bright blue eyes, realizing what was going on around her. The first thing she saw was Ryu and his crazy pompadour. She softly smiled to him and thanked him for waking her up, but also told him that she had to go for the night, as it was late. Her parting words to him were, "Thanks Ryu, I'll be back tomorrow for my next lesson."