-Fate Wheel-

part 1

Yoh Asakura liked Anna Kyoyama. And that wasn't much of a secret.

Those that were involved with either of the two were aware of the plight that the young man had been going through for the past three years or so. Who knows? It could have been longer, but Yoh wasn't about to disclose what he thought was "incriminating evidence" on himself. The only person who would have known if Yoh had a crush on the girl that predated their simple high school years would be his older twin brother, Hao Asakura, but then, when asked by the other people in their class, Hao would then dawn a coy smile and delicately press a finger to his lips and say, "That...is a secret."

His playful remark would melt the hearts of any female classmates that doted on him, but Hao honestly did it to keep the others off of his naive little brother's case when addressing this topic. Hao had pondered and even confronted Yoh about his love-from-afar, stating that it would be so much simpler if he were to just go and talk to her. But every time, as always, Yoh would make up some type of eloquently put, yet overwhelmingly evasive excuse to not pursue what he obviously wanted leaving Hao and a few of his closer friends like Horo Horo and Manta frustrated with him.

But to a degree, they could understand his complacency. It wasn't like Anna was the most approachable person in the world. Anna, in spite her strikingly beautiful features, her blond hair and cat-like, almond eyes, her slim figure and pale skin that glistened in the sunlight, was almost in stark contrast, the most anti-social person in the school. She sat closest to the class room door and in acute silence during lessons and was nowhere to be found in and around lunch. And when school ended, she departed alone and directly to her home, not participating in any type of extracurricular activities.

To the majority of those in school, it was a clear indicator that Anna Kyoyama was either a certified "bitch", or just a person who sincerely desired to live a secluded life. And that was where most of the curiosity stemmed from. Naturally, rumors began to spread about her, she was avoided by some and ridiculed by others. But Anna never seemed to mind. She hardly batted an eye as she made her rounds in the school halls from class-to-class nor headed it. No matter the contrary rumor that seemed to ooze from a falsified tongue, she never retaliated. She never had to either. Those who thought her as a stuck-up brat always conspired resentment and malevolent plans against the girl, but never brought their deeds to fruition due to the almost haunting presence Anna always carried with her. She was simply too terrifying to approach in that manner either. So, the overall best way to deal with her was to simply leave her be.

But there were some people, people like Yoh Asakura and Hao, that knew there was more to the silent Anna Kyoyama than most were leading themselves to believe. There was a reason for her strange countenance, but it was not their place to say, so they never tried in full earnest to disway the irrational comments towards, suggesting that they would only step in if things got violent between classmates, which thankfully never did.

However, that wasn't really the case at her home.

The Asakura and Kyoyama households were neighbors of sorts. Yoh and Hao's father Mikihisa and Anna's father worked at the same company and their mother, Keiko, who ran the local flower shop (which was an extension of their house) knew Anna's mother from her frequent visits to pick up her favorite blossoms. And from this typical exchange that happened regularly, the Asakura family began to unwittingly unravel what was really going on.

Anna had an abusive father who found his best escapes from normalcy and the everyday stresses of life at the bottom of a bottle and in his drunken rage, his hands would find their way onto his wife on occasion, leaving bruises on her arms and torso. Anna would step in when she could, and that would ultimately drive him away from anymore confrontation for the duration of the day. However, it was only delaying the inevitable when he'd start again a week or so later, only for Anna to intervene again.

Keiko and Mikihisa confronted Anna's mother with assurance that if she wanted it, they would help by calling the authorities, but she swiftly declined the offers stating that if her husband were to leave them, they would have no feasible source of income. And his drunken rants were a small price to pay, for he truly loved his family. She sated the minds of those concerned with a soft smile that was more times than not, marred with a noticeable bruise of some kind.

Yoh could only imagine how taxing that would be on her. She was only seventeen. And he loved her all the more for it. He wished he could do something, but every time he tried speaking to her in class or on their way to school, careful to not bring up any touchy subjects, just wanting to start a friendly chat, she would just ignore him and walk away, hardly giving the Asakura brothers acknowledgment.

Anna knew of their family entanglement be it that their parents were close associates and they walked in the same direction in school, but she made it a point to not associate with them. Even when Yoh tried starting conversation with her, she would politely decline his request and ask to be left alone. Hao would comfort his discouraged little brother saying she would "come around eventually", but Yoh was seriously beginning to doubt it. All he really want to do was be her friend if anything. It was breaking his heart knowing she was suffering alone.

"No one deserves to be alone like that," he would often tell himself. Well, he would tell himself that, but honestly didn't know if it was true. He wasn't sure if he was just trying to convince himself that he truly meant well by Anna or if he was just subduing the truth, that he had selfish, one-sided feelings for her and his constant prying was only making her situation even worse.

It was all so complicated, and Yoh was far too a simple guy to try and figure out a way to diffuse a way to stop such a personal endeavor, but wanted desperately to be a comfort to his crush when she needed it most. But was unable to.

He would hope that one day, he would be able to take her away from the chaos that was her life.

And as the fate wheel began to turn, so did the discord in the Kyoyama household reach its pinnacle one night in the middle of a summer thunderstorm...