Chapter 1: Pain

Yoh looked longingly at the couple sitting at the park bench.

Anna Kyouyama and Hao Asakura. What a wonderful couple.

But seeing them like that was too much to bear. Anna was the only one he loved his whole life, but now, there she is, sitting beside his older brother. Hands laced together, lips locked, bodies close.

He couldn't take it anymore. He dragged himself out of the park and headed home.

He's been living alone for quite some time now, for his ex-fiancée Anna had moved into a house far from where the onsen was. Hao, on the other hand, moved in with her a week ago.

CLUNK!

Yoh kicked a can on his way. Who was he kidding? Anna never had feelings for him, the only reason she stayed was because she was arranged to marry him, but she broke the engagement after the tournament, seeing as she had no more purpose in the onsen. That was six months ago, on his seventeenth birthday. He could still feel the pain inside; the emotional scars within him ached as he remembered.

Flashback six months ago

"Anna!"
"I'm sorry Yoh, but I have to go. I only came here to train you, and now that the tournament's over, I've got no purpose, I've told Master Kino…I broke our engagement." She said coldly.

Yoh tried to fight back the tears that formed in his eyes.

"W-why?" He stuttered, trying to keep his voice steady. Anna sighed.

"Master Kino once told me that if no feelings develop within 4 years of us staying together, we can break it…"

Yoh felt his heart ache and his vision blur as unshed tears welled in his eyes.

"Anna…"
"Yoh, for the last time, I am leaving. I don't love you, you don't either, so might as well leave, nothing will happen, anyway." She said, not turning back.

Tears slid down Yoh's cheeks as he clutched the small red box he had been holding all this time.

"But Anna…I…I lo-"

She slammed the door in his face.

"I love you…" He sank down as he dropped the velvet box.

End of flashback

Yoh felt a tear slide down his cheek as entered his empty house.

How he remembered that day, the pain he had to endure.

He was going to propose to her, but she left. She heartlessly left him alone.

On his birthday.

Yoh clenched his fist, creasing the fabric he was holding.

A crimson bandanna.

Anna's bandana. For the past six months he held onto it as if it were his security blanket. She left it behind, and he found it jammed in the couch.

He gave a sigh as he dragged his feet to Anna's room.

There, on the floor, was a futon, lying as if it were waiting for someone to sleep on it. Even though Anna had left, he still kept her room as it was before, silently hoping for its owner to return.

Sighing, he slowly closed the door shut and slowly trudged to his room.

Opening the door, his eyes fell on a red velvet box lying on the table.

"I don't love you"

He felt a surge of pain as he remembered those cruel words.

Words that were torturing him to no end.

He took a knife out of his drawer, holding it against his wrist. Trembling, he incised his wrist lightly. He wanted to die. It bled slightly. He didn't even notice the physical pain he inflicted on him, he was too emotionally pained to even feel. He slid it again, this time deeper than the first. His face filled with tears as he watched the blood seep out of his wound. Slowly killing him. A few more cuts and he will finally be released from the hell that his life became when she left him.

Tamao hummed happily as she walked down the street, clutching a small bag.
Opening the gate, she silently made her way inside the onsen.

"Yoh?" She called softly, walking through the hall.

No reply.

"Yoh, where are you?" She asked again, making her way upstairs, to his room.

She reached her hand to open the door, but something made her stop.

"Anna…" Yoh's sad voice said.

Tamao felt a chill up her spine, unexplainable fear creeping up her body.

Hesitantly, she opened the door, and was greeted by a bleeding Yoh, still clutching the blood-stained knife in his trembling hands, prepared to make another cut.

"YOH!" She screamed, rushing to his side. He gave her a painful smile, as if saying goodbye.

"Yoh, please…" She took the knife and threw it aside. Mixed emotions were taking over her: fear, love, pity, sadness, shock, sorrow, panic.

"I've got nothing left to live for…might as well leave me dying."

Tamao tried to fight back the tears that formed in her eyes, taking a handkerchief and making a makeshift bandage, wrapping his incised wrist. Yoh looked at her with a blank expression.

"Tam…why…why are you doing this? I've got nothing to live for...please…" He stopped as he felt a tear on his hand. Tamao was crying. "Please…don't…" She sobbed.

Yoh looked at her, his eyesight blurring due to the unshed tears still in his eyes.

"Why…why can't she love me back?" Tamao lifted her head and looked at him straight in the face with her tear stained one.

"It's not fair…why did she have to leave? Why didn't she love me back? Tam…why…why?"

She embraced him, resting her head on his shoulder. She patted his back soothingly, which seemed to calm him down.. Yoh buried his head in her shoulder.

"Yoh…everything is unfair…please, you need to move on…forget…please, it pains me to see you like this." She whispered softly.

He lifted his head slightly.

"Tam…help me forget…"

Tamao's eyes widened at his response.

"Goodnight, Hao." Anna gave her boyfriend a kiss, heading to her room.

"G'night, Anna." He watched her enter her room, and turned his back when she closed the door, heading to his own room.

Anna smiled as she closed her door.

Hao-her Hao. She simply loved him more than anything, and she knows that he feels the same.

But seeing his face also pained her, it reminded her of someone whom she recently left behind.

"Yoh…"

Tamao laid in the futon, her blanket modestly covering her bare skin. She shifted her gaze to the sleeping figure beside her.

Yoh slept peacefully, his tousled brown hair untidily covering part of his face.

She slowly closed her eyes, hoping to catch some sleep.

-Tam's POV-

I've loved him all these years, and even though it's just for tonight, I'm happy that he returned my affection, even for a short while.

And then the voices in my head would speak at their own will.

What are you saying, Tamao? You're fooling yourself!

Yeah, he didn't love you, you're just a tool! A tool to help him forget!
You know all he loves is Anna, not you!

You delusional girl! He doesn't even love you!

Please…stop….

He never loved you, that is the truth!
He never returned your feelings!

Yeah!

Please…stop….

-End of Tamao's POV-

"Please! Stop!" She sat up. Her face was covered in sweat.

Guilt was slowly consuming her. Cupping her forehead, she took a robe and dressed herself, heading to the bathroom.