Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King or Naruto.
Author Note: Thank you for the positive reviews! Please keep reading and reviewing, sorry for the wait. Also, if it's not very good it's because I was in a rush.
Hao walked into En Inn, a carton of chocolate ice cream cradled in one arm
Hao walked into En Inn, a carton of chocolate ice cream cradled in one arm.
"Anna! I know how much you want- oh dear…" Hao broke off at the sight of his poor, mangled brother. A post had been stuck in the middle of the room, and an up-side down, badly beat up Yoh hung from it.
"What happened to you?" Hao asked bluntly, and Yoh groaned.
I couldn't think. I couldn't feel. Everything was just one big pulse of pain. Surprisingly, I think if it weren't for my "training", as I called it, it would have been even worse.
"Yoh?" Came a funny, muffled voice, and I somehow managed to open my eyes a slit. I got the distinct impression it was my brother, wrong side up, but I wasn't sure.
Who was my brother again?
Oh, right. Hao.
"Brudder? Cuh yu tak me dowt? Pul-wease?" I managed to get out, and I guess Hao understood beat-up-little-brother-mumbo, because I felt strong arms untie me, and I hit my head on the floor.
"Owww- Mmmph!" I started to yowl, until Hao frantically clapped his hand over my mouth.
"Shut up!" He hissed. "Do you want Anna to kill me? Eat some ice cream, it'll help." I felt something cold get shoved down my throat, and I gagged on reflex, biting hard on a foreign, fleshy object.
"GA-mmmppphhh. Think Anna surrounded by the fires of Hell if she hears you." I heard, as if from a distance, Hao manage too moan out as he whipped his hand out of my mouth. I felt a smile break across my face, which changed to a grimace of pain as my sore muscles were stretched the wrong way.
Grabbing the ice cream, I began to shovel it down, ignoring the pain it took to swallow, or the fact I was using my hands, After awhile, the cold numbed some of the pain, making it better, if not bearable.
"So- sorry." I said, and thankfully my speech felt normal again, though there was a slight lisp. Hao grimaced.
"Don't mention it. I must say though, I'm impressed. I never thought that you could do something to make Anna so mad." Hao told me, and I grunted noncommittally.
"Wha-ever." I mumbled, uncomfortably aware of Hao's curious gaze. Patience snapping, Hao gave me the look.
"So what happened?!" He demanded, and I cleared my throat, feeling a bead of sweat slid down my temple.
"Uh- well, you see, I, um, oh, this is harder then it looks-"
"Get on with it!" Hao snapped, and I flushed.
"I peeked on her while she was bathing." I blurted out, and Hao chocked on the scoop of ice cream he was eating.
"You… you what?!" Hao yelped in an unmanly tone, then flushed as his voice cracked. I nodded sheepishly, averting my gaze.
"Yeah…"
"Was she good?" Hao asked, and it was my turn to choke.
"Wha-what?" I said, astounded and slightly shocked at Hao's blatant question. He sighed heavily, shaking his mane of brown hair regretfully.
"I said, 'was she-"
"I know what you said!" I snapped, feeling my face turn an unseemly shade of red. Hao grinned at me and stood up, eyes bright.
"Then I'll leave you to her, I must say, I don't want to be around Anna when she's on warpath." Hao said, before sauntering out.
I stared, feeling confused and, quite suddenly, exhausted.
"Why can't everyone make sense?" I said plaintively, but of course no one answered. Or at least no one was supposed to.
"Maybe because you're a perverted, spoiled brat," Came a surly voice, and I jumped a foot in the air, before seeing Anna standing there, fully clothed. I felt myself go weak as the memory of her naked flashed before my eyes, and I smiled, not knowing what else to do.
"Don't do that!" Anna barked, and I blinked, confused.
"Huh?" I asked, and Anna glared at me.
"Just- just stop smiling like that. It's creepy." Anna commanded, and I rearranged my face into a painful half grimace.
"This better?" I muttered, hoping that I could appease her somehow. A fleeting smile flickered across her face, then Anna spun around.
"Oh, whatever, I guess you can go home." She growled, and I blinked.
"Huh?" I asked stupidly, and she glared at me.
"Are you retarded? Get going! Out, right now, before I lose control and murder you." She snarled, and I backed away slowly, before spinning around and breaking into an outright run.
"And stay out!" Anna shrieked from behind me.
"Just my luck that it's raining." I grumbled as walked home, since the station was closed for repairs of some sort. I couldn't help but suspect that maybe Anna had something to do with it.
I closed my eyes and sighed, feeling the rain drip down from my hair, and feeling surprisingly peaceful as I walked back to the Asakura Mansion, listening to my music.
I broke her heart…so now I have to patch it together with only my red bandanna…
I hummed along quietly to one of my favorite songs, when an idea hit me. I felt a grin spread across my face, and I dashed home, excitement threatening to brim over and spill out of me.
"Horo Horo?" I asked as soon as the phone was answered. Horo had an annoying habit of picking up the phone first, if possible, and shouting something obnoxious to the person calling.
"NO YOU IDIOT, I WILL NOT STOOP THAT LOW! I'M A TAO, A TAO YOU HERE ME?! WE DO NOT CLEAN BOXERS THAT HAVE BEEN SMOLDERING IN SOME PIT FOR SEVERAL WEEKS!" A voice roared out of the phone, obviously Ren's.
"Sorry," He said conversationally, "That jackass was trying to get me to do the unthinkable, wash-"
"Ummh," I really didn't want to know what Horo wanted Ren to do, not now, not ever. Ever.
"That's nice, but can I speak to Pirikia?" I asked, and there was a startled silence.
"…could you repeat that?" Ren asked, and I obediently obliged.
"Sure, can I speak to-"
"Gah, that's not what I meant. Why do you want to speak to her?" Ren asked, and I made a face. I didn't want to admit to anyone what I was doing, least of all Tao Ren.
"Were having a secret affair." I said jokingly, and all chaos went loose.
"YOU WHAT?!" Horo screamed, he'd obviously been listening. "DAMMIT YOH, I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND! HOW COULD YOU-"
I lost it. I was not having a good day, and Icouldn't stand to have someone yell at me for one second more.
"I WAS FREA-KIN JOKING!" I shouted back, feeling all my pent up frustrations come rushing out in one split second. "CAN I PLAESE SPEAK TO PIRIKIA?!"
There was shocked silence, then Horo replied meekly.
"Yes Yoh." I felt bad, but also much better as all my confusion, anger, and sadness spilled out. Anna could never be mine, I'd realized today. But that didn't mean I couldn't try to be her friend.
I remember the day I first met her in third grade…
The little boy stared at the two huge, older fifth graders with wide, innocent brown eyes. One grinned menacingly and cracked his knuckles.
"So, little spoiled brat wants to play with fire, huh? Go ahead, but you might be burned." He sneered, then cocked a fist, ready to slam the sucker all the way to Tim buck two.
Suddenly, a slim figure darted out from the shadows and whammed the bully, sending him reeling.
"What the-?" The other one began, before meeting the same fate. The girl flicked a strand of blond hair and glared at the two.
"Get. Out," She said coldly, and they fled. She then turned to look at the boy, who gasped. Her beautiful dark eyes glowed with a mixture of anger, fear, frustration and loneliness.
"You alright?" She asked, and the boy turned several shades of red, before spinning around and racing off, heart pounding wildly…
"Yoh? What is it?" I blinked, coming too as Pirikia's voice sounded from the receiver.
"Uh, what? I mean, does Anna know the song Red Bandanna?" I asked, and Pirikia replied in a puzzled tone.
"Of course she does, but if you want to get her the song, she already has it." Pirikia replied, clearly wondering if I was sane.
I grinned, elated, and shouted happily into the phones.
"Nah, that's not what I'm doing, but thanks!" Then I hung up.
That evening, I worked on my little project, then, because I was so excited, decided to pull an all nighter. The next morning, I walked to school (Hao takes his car, I prefer walking and taking in nature) a little cardboard box in under my arms, my fingers heavily bandaged.
School was normal; I slept, I had lunch, got yelled at for a missing assignment, and slept some more. Finally, the day ended and I almost skipped out of school. I quickly caught sight of Anna walking with Pirikia, Ren, and Hao.
I ignored the flicker of jealously as she walked along side Hao, and boldly stepped up.
"A-Anna! Hey, Anna! Can I talk to you?" I called, and when Anna looked at me, I forced down the squirming sensation in my gut.
We're just going to be friends, just going to be friends, just going to be friends…
"What?" She asked curtly, and I smiled weakly.
"C-can I speak to you? In, uh, private?" I asked, shifting my weight from foot to foot. Anna's eyes widened slightly, then she shrugged.
"Be back in a minute." She said to the others, and Hao winked at me. Walking to a vacant lot, Anna glared at me, eyes like daggers.
"What do you want? I have a life in case you don't know." She snapped, and I blinked.
"W-well, I was thinking about yesterday, and I wanted to apologize. What I did wasn't very nice, and abused your trust. So while I was walking home, I decided," Here I cleared my throat and brought out the white box, opening it.
"To patch up our friendship with my red bandanna." I said solemnly, and Anna gasped as I took out the bright red headband.
"Oh," She said, reaching for it then snatched her hand back, staring at me. Or rather, my calloused hands. Yoh," She said, wide eyed. "Did you-?" I grimaced, then attempted a smile.
"Yeah, its hand made. If you don't like it, it's f-"
"Put it on." Anna commanded, and I blinked, before moving around to behind her and slipping it on her head. I noticed my hands were trembling violently as I tied the knot, then stepped away, realizing I was soaked with sweat. However, the smile Anna gave, the first time I'd ever seen her smile, made everything worth it.
Staying up all night, making the resolution to just be friends, everything, that smile was worth it.
"I guess," She said finally, "you aren't so bad." Then she leaned forward and gave me a brief hug. My heart started hammering, and I thought for a minute I was going to explode. I'm positive that steam at least came out my ears.
When she pulled away, her mask was back in place, the quick kindness and warmth she'd shown had dissolved.
"By the way," She added conversationally, "I decided to double your weights; you're at the right stage, after all." Then she walked off, leaving me standing there, dumbstruck.
Then it hit me.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Author Note: Did you like it? By the way, I made up the Red Banndanna song, so it's a complete coincidince if there's actually a song like that.
