Chapter 1
Name
A couple of years had already passed since the end of the shaman fight that resulted in Hao's victory and their return to their normal lives, now as high school students. There had not been any real changes amongst them, perhaps except for a slight increase in height (that, unfortunately, wasn't bestowed upon Manta). Ren remained in Tokyo, accompanied by his sister, "because going back now would be tiring". Horo-Horo, Lyserg and Chocolove returned to their own cities, each working hard for their own dreams. Ryu and Faust, on the other hand, kept their promise and stayed at the inn along with Tamao, who remained with them as well.
Yoh and Anna's own dreams seemed to be just as alive. Despite being defeated in the tournament, Anna continued her relentless training on Yoh; as a matter of fact, she increased it by a tenfold, convinced that the increase of Yoh's shamanic powers would ameliorate the chances of the realization of her own dream. Each day Manta saw his dark-haired friend enter the classroom door, his slim yet muscular frame often bruised and exhausted, he was filled with pity and amazement in how Yoh could endure all this suffering without once losing his laid-back and cheerful attitude.
"A-Anna," the exceptionally short boy said nervously, against his better judgement, on a particularly trying day for Yoh, as he was forced to do the electric chair throughout the entirety of class. "Don't you think you're being a little hard on him?"
The blonde glared back icily, her dark eyes glittering in annoyance, and said in a tone that was equal in coldness, "Don't speak to me so informally."
Manta jumped at her gaze, clearly agitated. "So-sorry!"
She sniffed haughtily and looked away, ready to turn her attention to more important matters at hand. "No. And if you have any problem with my method, I'll make you do it too."
Manta spent the remainder of that period agonizing over the pain in his legs and mentally promising himself never to get in the way of Anna and her training ever again.
"Sorry you had to do that, Manta," Yoh told his friend, all the while he was massaging his own sore limbs though his almost ethereal relaxed countenance never left him. They were both lying, spent from their cruel punishments, on the school roof during lunch; Anna preferred to eat indoors.
The smaller boy shook his head and grinned at the brunette. "It's okay… It's not as bad as what you always have to do." Yoh laughed in response then took a bite from his sandwich.
Manta munched on his own lunch, suddenly realizing that this particular moment was perfect for finally discovering the answer to his curiosity. He watched his friend relax against the cement floor, marvelling at the beauty of the massive backdrop of blue above them, before he began his innocent investigation. "Say Yoh…"
"Hm?" He took another bite.
"Do you love Anna?"
The moment the words left his lips, a shower of half-chewed morsels of bread, tomatoes and meat descended on his fair head. "EEW! YOH! That's disgusting!"
The said person was already sitting upright, eyes widened in surprise and face glowing red in embarrassment. The shaman wiped his mouth against the back of his hand, stammering incomprehensively, "Wha-what are you-? I mean- Why are you- this- all of a sudden-?"
Manta nearly laughed at him as his face changed into several darker shades of red- a bright, monochromatic rainbow- and, unable to continue his incoherent babble, he buried his face in his hands then curled into a fetal position.
Picking off flecks of lettuce from his soiled uniform, Manta asked uncertainly, "So… is that a yes?"
He didn't receive any form of reply. Instead, Yoh remained in that position until lunch ended, even at which time he refused to say a word, leaving Manta still intellectually deprived.
Manta tried asking Yoh, being too frightened to ask Anna as he still recalled the pain of Anna's wrath through the insistent aches of his thighs, several more times. Each attempt, however, remained fruitless as Yoh always responded in a similar manner as the first inquisition.
'I guess…' Manta thought, pouting after yet another unsuccessful endeavour, which led to Yoh nearly drowning in the hot spring when he attempted to curl into a ball. He stood alone in the changing room of the inn, having been invited to dinner, while Yoh had left ahead of him wordlessly after having recovered from the incident. 'The direct approach won't work on them… I'm sure that Anna will say that she does, if she does respond to my question instead of slapping me, but I can't tell whether she's lying or not since she's always so emotionless!'
He sighed in frustration, drying off his damp hair with a new towel. 'These two are a mystery. Why can't they just admit that they like each other or not?'
The thought made him stop in his tracks.
'What if they don't actually like each other like that?'
He let out a short unsteady laugh. "No…" He said out loud, trying to convince himself with his own voice. "Yoh and Anna wouldn't stay with each other just because they were told to if they didn't like each other!" His voice seemed doubtful even to his own ears.
"Well…" He contemplated under his breath, "All Anna seems to care about is her dream as an inn owner so I guess she doesn't really care since being with Yoh would let her achieve her dream anyway…" He furrowed his brows in concentration. "And Yoh… well, Yoh is lazy so he might think that it's easier to let his family pick his future wife instead of picking someone himself."
All of a sudden, Manta could hear the call of Ryu in the distance, announcing the preparation of dinner to everyone.
"This isn't the time to be thinking such things!" He told himself, brushing away his thoughts with light reprimanding pats on his cheeks. He pulled on the remainder of his attire and hurried to join everyone at the table.
By the time Manta arrived at the dining room, most of his companions were already there, carrying platters of Ryu's homemade food to the low table.
Feeling somewhat left out and useless, Manta voiced uncertainly, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
The former delinquent just shook his head with a smile, arranging the appetizing dishes along the equator of the tabletop. "No, we've got it all covered. You can just take a seat."
The petite boy obliged unwilling, watching the rest busy themselves about the room and noticing that there was someone missing amongst them. "Hey, where's Anna?"
Tamao looked around quickly and shrugged. "Anna-sama is probably still in her room."
Manta stood up immediately, filled with a sense of purpose as he declared, "I'll go call her down for dinner then," and rushed out the room before anyone could protest.
Manta walked along the darkened corridor leading to Anna's room, feeling little more than slightly stupid for his earlier enthusiasm. He had never really ventured to this end of the building before since he was worried about the possible dire consequences of trespassing into Anna's domain- the consequences he momentarily forgot in his abrupt outburst. He felt the smooth wooden panels of the walls that guided him down the long hallway, unable to see ahead of him until he saw the trickle of light that escaped through the cracks what he presumed was Anna's doorway.
"Anna," the boy called out, unnerved by the darkness around him although he had already encountered many of the terrors that often hid in such environments. "It's time for dinner."
Suddenly, a strong force pushed him away from the door just as he was about to knock. 'Wha-' he thought in shock as he looked up to see one of Anna's shikigami standing before him menacingly.
"Do not call me by my name." The familiar frosty voice, coated with underlying malice for the sudden intrusion, came from the depths of the room, beyond the unopened door. Tears welled up in Manta's eyes automatically, though he ought to have known what was going to happen to him, having known her for years.
"Now Anna, don't be so mean."
The tears were replaced with a smile as Manta turned to see Yoh's unperturbed form enter his line of vision. The taller boy grinned at his friend serenely as he helped him up and told him, "don't worry about it too much Manta, she normally like this after a nap." His words triggered an annoyed "Shut up, Yoh" from within the room, causing the said boy to laugh good-naturedly, unfazed by his fiancée's harsh tone.
"Just go ahead downstairs; they've already started eating. We'll be right there." After Yoh said this, he entered the forbidden chamber easily and shut the sliding door behind him, leaving Manta outside, utterly confused.
When the couple returned, rejoining the animated party, they didn't interact with each other in any particularly affectionate manner. Anna, as per usual, was scolding her betrothed about one thing or another while he took her rebukes with a smile.
Ryu, in an attempt to calm the situation, said, "Why don't you both just eat? I'm sure you can both talk about this later, Anna…" The itako glared at him viciously, making the older man gulp and continue with a squeek, "-sama!"
The itako then turned her gaze to Manta, who nearly jumped in fright. "And you…" She began threateningly, "I hope you realized your place by now." The boy nodded fervently, unable to speak under her stare.
"Let's be nice to our friends, Anna." Yoh said, sitting at the low table and grabbing a bowl of his own.
"You'll both be weeding the garden before school tomorrow."
Manta let out a yelp of agreement, not wanting to anger her further, but Yoh just nodded his head, almost absentmindedly it seemed to Manta which, though he knew that Yoh was accustomed to such demands by now, surprised him since the dark-haired boy usually showed a terrified expression, which was currently absent, at her angry one.
"Hai, hai," Yoh said, swallowing a mouthful of food. "Now come and eat before the food gets cold." He patted the empty space beside him pleasantly and Anna obliged with an "humph".
The pair conversed lightly as they ate and the air around them seemed to soften with every passing second though nothing in her expression would betray it. This was unnoticed by all but Manta who eyed them like a guppy in his wide-eyed disbelief.
'I can't believe it! She not angry at all anymore! And she didn't slap Yoh at all when he said her name! I guess…' Manta thought, shocked at his revelation, 'they really do like each other.'
AN: Uh… I got distracted halfway so I had to change a bunch of stuff so that it matched with the randomly added babble my sleep-induced mind produced… Sorry about that… Hopefully I won't get sidelined in the next few chapters.