A/N: Hey all, first of all, thanks for checking this out; it's my first story in this category (which I know might turn some of you off, ha ha). I just got into Shaman King this week and finished reading volume 20 today. So, in honor of that, and since I've been in a romantic mood, here's this story. Spoilers for up to volume 20 of Shaman King!

The Rush

Anna Kyoyama controlled her emotions, up to a point, with a frightening expertise. Occasionally things would slip through. Mostly when she was around her fiancé's idiot friends. They all irked her nerves on some level and at some point. Manta might have been the worse, with the way he overreacted to things.

Strolling through the Flame Inn, she frowned a bit more and had to concede to the voice of reason.

It wasn't their faults.

They didn't know that all of their emotions and thoughts echoed inside of her, and she would rather keep it that way, thank you very much. It wasn't that she didn't trust other people, but sometimes Yoh could make some pretty lousy friends. And then where would she be? Exposed, a weakness, for whatever bizarre psychopath Yoh decided to bring in.

That man was far too trusting of people.

She paused in her steady gait as a thought caught her attention. It seemed almost… irritated, which was odd considering—as far as she knew—Yoh and herself were the only ones in the house tonight. And if there was one fact she knew with absolute certainty it was that Yoh did not get irritated without very, very good reason. Even then it was rare at best. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd seen him irritated.

Nonetheless, she was bored and decided to investigate. It would entertain her for a moment if nothing else. She followed the thoughts as they grew more pronounced. Slowly she tuned into them, always cautious.

Her training allowed her to basically put her powers on morphine. All the raging thoughts and emotions were kept numb and quiet, unless she allowed them in, and of course, she was always cautious when she did. The only time she used that power was during fights, if it was beneficial, and occasionally she would listen in on Yoh.

Not to spy on him, exactly. Even she wasn't that bad. The real reason—though she'd hate to admit it—was because he had such a pure mind. It relaxed her, gave her a sense of peace, and when he looked at her…

She shook her head from the thoughts, feeling the presence of the mind immanent. She looked up to see she was at Yoh's room. Huh. So it was him sounding so irritated. She leaned against the wall outside of his room and tuned in.

Can't just go up and tell her or do anything she would kill me and then she would see it coming because she would notice how irritable my thoughts were—agh!—why can't I just be all calm and stuff like I always am. This is killing me. She's the only one who's ever managed to make me lose my cool like this and—.

The thoughts suddenly cut off and Anna blinked in confusion.

"Anna?" came his voice from within the room.

Oh, crap, she thought, standing up straight.

He was getting better and better at noticing her presence—maybe she had trained him too well. Before she could make her escape Yoh popped his head outside and raised a hand in greeting.

"Yo."

"Don't 'yo' me," she growled, looking away in an attempt to hide the blush she felt covering her cheeks. Of course, Yoh had no power over here, ever, but she couldn't help but think to herself, I am so busted. Not that he would take advantage of this situation—nor would she let him.

"What're you doing out here in this spooky hallway?" he asked, stepping outside and crossing his arms. Not in an intimidating manner, of course, more like he was getting chills. Idiot.

"Walking," she answered, still not looking at him.

"If I didn't know better I'd think you were spying on me," he remarked casually, grinning as usual. She turned and gave him what-for, knocking him back into his room. "Oww, Anna that hurt!" She walked over to his doorway and leaned inside the room, not daring to step foot in it. For some reason it felt almost as if… if she stepped inside something drastic would change.

"Dream on," she answered smartly. Yoh sat up, rubbing the side of his face which now housed a glowing-red hand print. He stretched out his legs and grinned again.

"You know, I think hitting people is your way of showing affection," he remarked in a chipper voice. It would irritate most people, but Anna found it refreshing, compared to those same 'most people.' She felt her face heat up again as his thoughts came back into focus.

And if every time you hit someone you were actually saying 'I love you,' then you most love me a whole lot.

He quirked an eyebrow at her, still smirking.

"Don't be stupid," she answered, crossing her arms over her chest. "I think you should know it without my hitting you all the time."

If that was true then why are you standing so far away? I don't have a disease that I know of.

"Why don't you take a seat?" he offered, either ignoring the fact that she could hear his thoughts or oblivious that she was listening. He patted the space on the bed next to him. "Wouldn't kill you to relax once in a while."

Please sit down, please sit down—please sit down and don't kill me, please sit down and…

"It wouldn't kill you to be a little more serious, either," she countered, looking down at her feet as she ever-so-slowly entered the room and walked over to him. Letting out a slow sigh, she did what he suggested and relaxed a bit, laying down on the mattress, ignoring him, as he sat next to her, the best she could.

Normally she wouldn't recline and leave herself so open, but she felt protected here. Maybe it was just the feeling the room had after all these years, maybe it was even Yoh's effect on the room, but then again maybe it was Yoh himself.

You look so beautiful…

Her eyes snapped open and narrowed at Yoh, but he just sat there with the stupidest smirk she'd ever seen. She watched him for a while, listening to his thoughts, as he sat perfectly still. For some reason, tonight felt different than other nights. Not just his thoughts, but the way he thought them.

She had caught him before, thinking about her when he thought she wasn't listening. Most of the time she caught him because he suddenly thought of something, usually when they were hanging out with his stupid friends. He would be talking with them one minute and then suddenly this powerful thought would come up, and she would tune into it on reflex. It was the same strength of a thought that held deadly intent, yet it was the polar opposite of that.

I love you so much…

And then he would be back to talking to his friends about training or how to burp or whatever it was teenage boys talked about.

Sometimes it would happen around the house, particularly when no one else was around. She would be watching television and suddenly hear the impulsive thought, turning around only to see him quickly walking out of sight.

You look so good tonight…

"Yoh, what are you thinking?" she asked after a long few moments. He looked at her in surprised.

"I thought you would know," he grinned.

"I meant…" she trailed off, diverting her eyes to stare at his chest instead of his honest eyes. Sometimes those eyes were too deep for her to swim in. "…why."

"Because it's true," he answered easily, reaching a hand out towards her, gently caressing her face. "You really are amazing, Anna." She felt her heart skip a beat as Yoh's thoughts became less constructed, turning more into a solid emotion than individual thoughts. It was a feeling that scared her more than any other she had ever encountered. It wasn't lust, of course, that wasn't Yoh's style. It was more like…

A pure love.

Love seemed too weak of a word, with the way people abused it these days. Plenty of married couples had a worn love between them, and a ton of young couples had a certain passionate love, but this wasn't like any of that. It was the purest, more unbiased, most encompassing, brightest, ever-burning love she had ever felt.

She felt the flicker of this feeling almost constantly around him, unless he was deeply involved in something else, usually a fight, but she had only felt it like this once before.

The first time she had been so caught off guard by it that she rushed out of the room, without saying a word, leaving Yoh behind, looking hurt and confused. She hated knowing that she was the one who had put that look in his eyes, but she didn't know how to handle his… feelings. She wasn't expecting them. He didn't say a word to her for two weeks after that, which was so unlike him that she nearly thought he hated her, but of course, that wasn't like Yoh either.

Slowly, after that, his thoughts turned back to her, but she could tell they were more guarded, more careful, and she felt guilty about it but couldn't bring herself to apologize. Then again, she didn't think he expected her to. If anything, it seemed like he wanted to apologize to her.

So this time, when that familiar feeling took over his thoughts, she was more prepared for it, but the force of it still shook her.

"I'm sorry," he frowned, dropping his hand away. "I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay, I just wasn't expecting it," she explained, closing her eyes and unable to bear the pained look on his face.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "I should have warned you."

This was the part of her powers that she hated nowadays more than anything. How they seemed to love to limit her ability to interact with Yoh—her fiancé, the only human being to ever touch her heart—and how she didn't know how to handle this new emotion.

She could handle the hate and lust from people now, those had grown easier overtime. The greed and anger were merely fleeting thoughts, passing through her mind—in one ear and out the other. Even more positive emotions, like when he had his friends over and they were all happily celebrating, it was all manageable. So why wasn't this?

"Yoh, don't be sorry," she murmured at last. "It's my fault."

"Anna—," he started to take the blame away from her, but she interrupted him.

"It's just nothing I've felt before," she explained, still unable to open her eyes and look at him. She felt her face heating up again. "I'm the one who should be sorry."

She felt the bed move as Yoh shifted and opened her eyes only to find him with his arms on either side of her, entrapping her, as he leaned down to touch his forehead to hers. He closed his eyes, his familiar smile returning.

"It's okay," he whispered. "I can control myself for your sake. There's no rush."

"Yoh," she whispered. He opened his eyes and the same familiar flicker of emotion touched her mind and heart. He shifted his head and placed a chaste kiss on her lips.

"I love you," he assured. "No matter what." She reached a hand up and gently slapped his face, not putting any real force behind it. His smirk widened. "Thanks."