CHAPTER 4
Damn that red light. How long have they been there, waiting for it to turn green? Ten minutes, minimum. God, why was it taking so long?! Damn it! Why can't it just turn green already?! She didn't have all day!
"It's taking too long…" Anna said to herself, sighing.
"It's been only 10 seconds, Miss Anna." Amidamaru chuckled. The blond girl had no patience whatsoever when it came to going to see the twins.
"It's still too long!" Anna looked outside the window, counting to 10 in her head. 1… 2… 3… She looked at the light, and noticed it was still red. It was teasing her. 4… 5… 6… Why doesn't it turn green already? 7… 8… 9…
"Why the hell is it taking too damn long?!" She was ready to open the door and walk all the way to their house and go back to her mansion walking.
And then it turned green. Amidamaru thought about teasing his mistress a little more by waiting a few seconds before going, but he quickly changed his mind. Anna would kill him if he took too long to get to the twins' house.
Well, at least she was happy.
Since Yoh and Hao came back into Anna's life, two months ago, the blond girl was happier. They spent most of the day together. Amidamaru would get them at their house in the morning with Anna and drive the three of them to school. They would spend the morning together, until Silva-sensei started the class. They would eat lunch with Pirika and the others. That included Tamao.
If it was up to Anna, the three of them would eat lunch alone. But Hao just enjoyed teasing her, even if later she beat the living crap out of him. For some reason the long haired idiot just seemed to enjoy pain. Besides, Anna had to admit that Yoh needed to spend time with Manta, considering the shorthaired twin took naps during class.
Those odd naps. The ones that were just like the one from his first day of school. Yoh never seemed to enjoy them. Sometimes he was shaking, sometimes he moaned painfully. Sometimes when Anna tried to wake him up he would act as if she was going to kill him. Not that she wasn't capable of murder, but...
One time when he woke up there were tears in his eyes.
And even with so many naps, Yoh never seems rested. It looks like those semicircles under his chocolate eyes would get deeper each day. His pale skin, his skinny body, those semicircles… Yoh looked like he really needed some deep sleep, but for some reason he couldn't get it. So she would let him take naps during class, hoping he could at least rest a little, and then use Manta's notes to study. But he would never get rest during the naps.
And that time at the movies, two months ago. Something was definitely wrong with Yoh.
Not surprisingly, when Anna asked Hao about Yoh's sleeping problem he said "next question".
Why did keep so silent about this issue? Didn't they consider Anna their friend?
Well, after lunch they would go back to class. During the second half Yoh would be drawing or looking out the window. Hao would always seem to keep an eye on him. He was, Anna noticed, overprotective. Sometimes during lunch he interrupted what one person was saying to make sure Yoh was eating right. If they wanted to go someplace Friday or during the weekend, Hao would always take a long time before answering. It was true that Yoh would normally keep his mouth shut and let Hao answer and decided just about anything for the two of them. During Gym Hao would always be looking at Yoh, and during class Hao would keep looking at him, every now and then, making sure that he was all right.
And if anything happened to Yoh, or if he thought something happened… God, did he over react! He went crazy, stopping everything he was doing and interrupting everyone just to make sure his brother was okay.
A bit paranoid, some people would think. But after what happened at the movies that night… Well, Anna was sure he had a very good reason to be that over protective.
Even if sometimes it did mean that Anna couldn't spend time alone with Yoh.
Not that she wanted to! Yoh was her best friend, but so was Hao! Is just… Yoh was way less annoying than Hao. That's it. That's why she sometimes stared at him during class, why she wanted to be alone with him, have him close to her… So close that she could know what he smells like and that she could feel his body heat.
It was only because he was the only person in the world who did not annoy her that much.
"We're here." Amidamaru said, and Anna swears she heard Halleluiah chorus coming from the radio.
"Finally." She said under her breath, opening the door of her car, not waiting for Amidamaru to do that for her. She then went to his window and gave him the order to stay in the car and then go back to their house.
Today was Saturday morning, and after a long discussion with those idiots that took care of Yoh and Hao, she was finally able to get permission to bring them to her house. It was weird how she had to get permission to take them anywhere, almost as if they were children. Well, actually, they didn't have much of a problem with Hao going out as much as they did with Yoh.
She went to the door and rang the bell. She waited until Hao, with a huge smile, which Anna knew was actually a disguised smirk, on his face.
"Anna! Is so nice to see you!" he said, leaning in on the door, blocking her way. "Come to finally kidnap my brother so the two of you can run away together and get married ?"
Anna could feel her face getting red. That's something that Hao had done a lot lately. He loved teasing Yoh and Anna, because of their childhood engagement. He would always something that implied that the two of them were… well, in love.
Yeah, right. Anna laughed at the thought. Her and Yoh, in love ? Riiiiiight… Although… her face always got red when Hao mentioned that. And every time she saw Yoh her heart beat fast when she thought about or saw him.
And maybe it was just her imagination, but Yoh always got a little red when he saw her, and he had the exact same reaction to Hao's teasing as she did.
"Shut up, Hao." Was her answer, looking down, hoping he wouldn't notice the blush.
"Come on in… We were waiting for you." He stepped aside, letting Anna in.
She went inside and looked around. They had almost nothing at the house, just a few personal belongings, close to no furniture. Yoh and Hao weren't suppose to share a room, but Anna knew that probably during the night Hao would probably go to Yoh's room, dragging his futon with him, and the two of them would sleep together. That's what they did when they were little kids. Anna always thought it was ridiculous. Why not just ask Mikihisa and Keiko to let them share a room?
Well, that was when they were little kids, but now… Anna had a guess that those cops living with them were not only that nice when she was around.
"Can you call your stupid lazy brother? I don't want to stay here for long…" and end up having to meet with those cops.
"He is in the living room, drawing." Hao answered, indicating with his head the direction of the living room, and then going to it.
And there he was. His pale hands working on a drawing and his tired dull brown eyes concentrating in his work. Anna doubted he heard Hao, who was probably sitting by his side while he worked like he usually did, leave and come back. He also didn't hear her coming in.
She got close to him, ready to push him out of the chair for ignoring her and making them late for lunch. She wanted to. In fact, she had her hands on the chair. But then she saw the drawing.
A forest and a river. There was this long haired girl wearing a summer time kimono looking at her reflection on the water. She looked rather sad, but happy at the same time. Probably the best way to describe it was someone who was unhappy, but at that moment was able to be happy again. By her side there was a boy, with long hair, walking towards the girl and the river while looking behind, almost calling for someone.
And he was, but Anna could barely see that person. It was another boy, almost identical to the first one. He looked sad and dull. Almost as if he was a soulless body, like he needed to be dragged by the first boy. He seemed like he was smiling, but it was obviously a fake one.
Yoh was starting to work on the colors. While on around he used shades of green and yellow, and on the river blue and brown, he varied the color on the three people. The girl had warm colors. Colors that, even thought you could tell she was unhappy and could only smile at that moment, you still felt amazed by her presence. You felt like she was the most important and interesting person in the world. Like her presence could make you feel better.
The boy in the middle had a mixture of different colors. When Anna looked at him she felt like the boy was someone trustworthy, someone who would protect you, who you cared for. He was someone who you depended completely on and that you needed with you. Someone who without it you would feel lost. In a way, he looked like he was like a sun, keeping you warm and alive. Without him you wouldn't be able to live. Without his protection and without him by your side… You would be lost.
And the other boy… Well, the only thing that made him stand out was the fact that Yoh was using colors like blue, gray and black on him. Everything around him, even some of the plants, were in dark color. His face, in so much detail, showed so many different emotions hidden behind a fake smile. Sadness, Hopelessness, Guilt, Fear… So many things. It seemed like the boy was somewhat miserable. Hollow. As if something was killing him on the inside, making him a soulless body, and with the last bit of strength he had he tried to smile, pretending everything was okay.
Anna felt Hao's eyes resting on her while she looked at Yoh's work. She looked at him and saw his eyes. He seemed to have a knowing look, mixed with sadness and understanding. He knew the meaning of Yoh's drawing. Probably because he spent most of time at school reading Psychology books.
This was not the only drawing of Yoh that scared and amazed Anna. On Yoh's room he had his most recent projects, the ones he was working on. But on Hao's room is where they kept most of his drawings. Hao kept them all. He would always look at them, analyzing them. He demanded having them all, even if it was a simple doodle. Hao would always keep them, even when he was done analyzing it. Anna knew that part of it was because he just wanted to have all of his baby brother's work.
"Yoh… These…" she was about to say something, when the Weird Mustache cop came into the room. Came in would be a bit kind to say. He barged him, with heavy footsteps, making Yoh look up from his work and Hao look at his direction.
Great. Every time Mustache small eye cop came into the room something bad happened. He had little patience, always being rude. Hao seemed to hate him. He, who always had an infinite patience lost his cool very easily when Weird Mustache was involved.
Not that Anna could blame him.
"What do you have here? Is it something useful?" with that he got a hold of the paper and pulled it, while Yoh's pencil for dark shadows was still touching the paper. Needless to say, the motion made a big line in the piece of art.
"Hey!" Yoh looked at the direction of Weird Mustache with a frown.
"Nothing useful." The man said, now looking at Yoh. "Why don't you stop drawing this crap and do something useful that can help us?!"
With that, Weird Mustache started ripping the drawing apart.
"What the hell is your problem?!" Hao yelled, taking the drawing from his hands before he could do anymore damage.
"We can't waste time with useless drawings! Why can't you just force him to do the one we need?!"
"I can't force my brother to do anything he doesn't want! He will tell us when he's ready!" Hao shouted, looking at the man angry "Right now my only concern is my brother's physical and mental health! That should be your priority as well!"
Anna was about to ask what was going on and punch Weird Mustache when she felt Yoh holding her wrist.
She blushed. And her heart was beating fast now. But not because she liked him. No. It was because… She was angry! She was furious! How dare he just do that to Yoh's work?! And… And… Yoh's grip was so weak. And his hands were so soft… No! That was not the reason why she was blushing! She was angry! That's it! Angry!
"Come on, they are going to fight again… Is not going to be pretty." Yoh had that cute smile that made it look like he was apologizing for the two of them. He stood up and started walking, when Anna released her wrist.
"I can walk on my own, you idiot." With that she walked ahead of him, her face red with anger. Damn that Weird Mustache and Small Eyes Cop.
He laughed and followed her outside, Hao staying behind, arguing with Weird Mustache and the two others who came when they heard the fight.
"You are still the same Anna as always. Getting angry over nothing." He laughed, as if nothing had happened. "And during Lunch especially."
She wasn't angry over nothing during lunch. No. She had a very good reason to be angry: Tamao annoyed her. A lot. Even after the movie she kept looking at Yoh. Couldn't she see that she had no chance? That Anna would never let Yoh date her?
And how could Yoh be so oblivious?! Why couldn't he see that she was flirting with him? That she liked him? Maybe even more? Was he that stupid?
The way Tamao would always dress up for Yoh, and how she would cook him bentos and try to give it to him… And the way she looked at him, blushing and trying to be sweet and nice… And how she always tried to get his attention and was always polite… It was so disgusting that made Anna sick.
Of course, all of Tamao's attempts to be with Yoh were useless. As long as Anna was present, she was not going to let Tamao flirt freely with Yoh. No way. Not even over her dead body.
"I don't get angry over nothing!" now she was angry. Of course she had a reason to be angry! Tamao, Weird Mustache Guy, Hao… Clueless Yoh. "I have plenty of reasons to be angry!"
He chuckled, and that made Anna even more angry.
"Stop laughing, you air head!"
That only made him laugh more. Four were two things more annoying than having Yoh laughing at you. Tamao flirting, Weird Mustache Guy being himself, Hao teasing her and… Of course, those two words that Anna had crossed out of her dictionary. No, really, she got a pen and scratched those two words out of every dictionary in her house.
"Shut it, Yoh!" When he didn't, she did the only thing Kyouyama Anna would do. She hit him. He stopped as soon as her hand made contact with his face and the other cheek made contact with the ground "Now see if you learn a lesson."
After that Hao showed up. He looked angry as well. Probably another serious fight with the cops that thanks to Yoh, Anna couldn't overhear.
Amidamaru, when noticed that all three of them were outside, didn't give a chance for them to open the door by themselves. He was always like that, never letting them do something so simple like opening the car door.
"Are your parents going to be there, Anna?" Yoh asked, as soon as Amidamaru closed the door.
"What do you think?" Anna looked at him, annoyed. She still hasn't forgiven him for laughing at her.
Anna's parents were never home. They were either working or travelling. There were months that she didn't even see them at all. They didn't really care that much for her. She was just there. The kid they had. They gave money to her and to their employees so they could raise the girl. That was it. Most of the time Anna was alone.
But now… Now she had Yoh and she had Hao. She had her friends back.
"Ryu has been working all morning on this lunch, Yoh-sama and Hao-sama." Amidamaru said excited, as he started the car.
Ryu was the Kyouyama Family cook. Ever since Anna was a little girl he has been working for them. And yet, not even he can escape Anna's criticism. She always finds something to complain about. Luckily he didn't quit yet. Anna knows for a fact that even if he is not a perfect cook, it will be hard to find someone as good as him.
"And Mosuke can't wait to see you two again!" Amidamaru said. Mosuke was the head butler. Besides Mosule they had three maids: Machi, Mari and Kanna.
It was the first time the two of them were going to visit Anna's house in Tokyo, even thought they had been in the city for two months. It took a lot of time to convince the three cops to let them
And Amidamaru went on and on, as always, about how everyone in the mansion missed the two of them and couldn't wait for this lunch. About how much they waited for that lunch and how much Anna was lonely without them.
Was it seriously the job of parents to embarrass the kids? Because in Anna's case it seemed Amidamaru took that role.
When they finally arrived, they were greeted by a very happy Mosuke at the big white front doors. The mansion, to say the least, was huge. And inside was decorated in a way that it looked comfortable, but also looked like no one actually lived there.
Just like the house Anna lived in Izumo.
"Yoh-sama! Hao-sama!" Mosuke said, as the four of them, Anna, Yoh, Hao and Amidamaru, in that order, entered the house "Is so nice to see you two again! How long as it been?"
"7 years, Mosuke." Hao answered, walking to Yoh's side.
"7 years?! That long?" Mosuke looked at them, pretending to be surprised.
"Yes… 7 years. Can you believe it's been that long?" Amidamaru asked his best friend.
"I remember when the three of them were just this high!" Mosuke continued, putting his hand down at knee level.
Anna always thought Mosuke was a weird butler.
"You two continue talking; I'll show the two of them the house." Anna took Yoh's hand on her left hand and Hao's hand on her right hand, and headed upstairs.
Upstairs was just like a maze. Anna still had to carry a handmade map of the house to not get lost. It was made up of several different hallways, all connected, and many doors leading to many rooms. It was kind like a hotel, only with some rooms more spacious than others. Anna's parents' room was the biggest one.
"How many rooms do you have just up here?" Hao asked, looking around.
"I don't know. I never bother counting them." At the end of this hallway turn left. "I think we have more rooms than in the Inn you guys live in."
"You bet." Yoh had that cute smile on. The one that annoyed Anna so much that she blushed "It's just not bigger than the Asakura Mansion, back in Izumo."
"Yes, but that thing is huge. There were wings on mansion that we never set foot in." Hao let out sigh. It was true that the Asakura Mansion was just enormous. Apparently, long ago they needed that much space so the entire family plus their disciples could live in. "And now only grandma and grandpa live there."
"What do you mean, only Kino-sensei and Yohmei-san?" Anna looked at Hao. Second to last door on the right. "What about Aunty Keiko and Uncle Micky?"
She looked at the two of them, and noticed that they exchanged glances. Almost as if Hao was asking "should we tell her?"and Yoh was answering "I don't know. You decide.".
"And why aren't they living with you? Why do you have to live those three cops?" they thought she didn't noticed, but she saw them exchanging those glances again. "What did you two do to deserve having to live with those three?"
This time, Yoh stopped. He bit his lower lip and looked down, but obviously wouldn't answer. Hao was the one who answered those type of questions.
"We" Hao said, giving a lot of emphasis to the word we. He then put his arm around his brother's shoulder, and looked at him. It seemed like he was talking to Yoh. Instead of Anna. "Didn't do anything. Neither of us." He was still looking at Yoh. "Got it?" Only now did he look at Anna.
How annoying.
"You still haven't answered my question." Anna crossed her arms and looked at the two of them. If they said those two words this time, she would be going to jail for murder.
"What Question?" Hao asked, walking past Anna, holding his little brother's hand and dragging him along.
They had a death wish. That's what they had.
"This is your room, right?" Yoh asked, a weak smile on his face as he pointed to Anna's door.
A weak smile coming from Yoh. He looked… Sad…
Maybe she could let go, only this time.
"Yes." She walked to the door and opened, revealing a very plain looking room. White walls, a bed, a big window, two doors, one leading to Anna's closet and the other two the bathroom, a desk, and some bookshelves. "It's very plain and occidental looking. I don't like it. I wish it was more traditional Japanese or… Or that the walls weren't so white."
"When you grow up and buy our Inn you can have a Traditional Japanese room." Yoh said, now returning to his old self.
"Yes, but until then I'm stuck with this room." Anna looked around. She hated her house.
"Then I guess you can do something to the walls." Hao walking into to the room and sitting down on Anna's bed.
They spent most of the time talking in Anna's room. Hao was lying on Anna's bed, looking at the ceiling, and Yoh and Anna sat side by side on the floor. While Hao talked most of the time, leaving almost no chance for Anna to say anything, Yoh would whisper what he wanted to say to her. He had that smile on his face the entire time and was always looking at her.
It annoyed her so much that she was blushing and her heart skipped a few beats every now and then.
Kanna, one of the maids, called the three of them to go downstairs when the lunch was ready. The entire time she talked with Hao, about random things, trying to impress the long haired twin. It was, to Anna, weird, considering how much older Kanna was and the fact that Hao didn't seem interested in any relationship that made him have to spend less time with his brother.
Was Hao always this over protective? For all Anna could remember, the three of them were inseparable. But because Hao was much more talented with his powers than Yoh was, he always had to train a few extra hours. So in the end, Anna always spend more time with Yoh than with Hao. There were times that were only the two of them. And Hao was okay with that. He was okay with letting his brother out of his sight back then.
But now…
They arrived downstairs to find a table set. Like you would find in a five star restaurant. You know the ones that had about 100 forks, knifes, plates and that the lunch itself took about 9 hours. Probably Ryu had prepared several courses.
And all Anna wanted was a traditional Japanese meal like he prepared every day.
He was going to pay for this.
It took 2 hours to eat the salad and the first course of lunch. Funny, Anna could swear Kanna said that the lunch was ready. Which, according to her definition of food that is ready, means that they wouldn't have to wait more than just a couple of minutes before staring eating.
But apparently some people thought that ready meant about half a day to serve a meal.
Occasionally Ryu would come out of the kitchen to check how everything was. Which only delayed the main course even more. Anna was so close to grabbing a knife and run around the room, trying to stab him. If he had time to go to the dining room and chat why wasn't he in the kitchen cooking?
"So, where is Keiko-sama and Mikihisa-sama? I wish they were here! I prepared their favorite!" Ryu said, as he came out of the kitchen yet again.
"We all wish they were here." Hao answered, with a sad smile. Yoh looked down, almost in a guilty way.
"Why aren't they here?" This was the perfect opportunity. They wouldn't dare to say those words in front of the others. Maybe they did in front of Anna, but in front of the other ones, who worked all morning, preparing the house for the two of them? No, they would never be able to. It would be too weird. To awkward.
Hao looked at his brother, only to notice that his head was lowered. Yoh returned the look. He was again with that weak sad smile. He looked again like that.
Hao gave a long tired closed eye sigh, before looking up.
"They are dead. They died a few months after you guys left." His voice betrayed any emotion. His eyes were hard and Anna could see something on them. Hate? Anger? Both? Neither? She didn't know. She couldn't tell.
But dead?! Mikihisa and Keiko were dead?! For 7 Years?! That was… That was the last thing Anna expected. That Keiko and Mikihisa were… It had to be a lie! It just had to!
Then she remembered. They stopped calling. They stopped calling and then Hao answered the phone and said that they couldn't speak. Was it because of that? Because of their parents' death? Was that the reason why they stopped calling? It must have been very traumatic for the two of them. First losing their best friend and then… Both of their parents at the same time.
"H-How?" Anna asked, when she found her voice again.
She looked at Hao and then at Yoh. This time the boy seemed to have been swallowed by the big chair. His head was down, his shoulders up. His eyes… He looked helpless. Guilty. Miserable. He was biting down on his lower lip and… It was so hard to explain it in words.
It was not nearly as terrible as he was in the movies that night, but still… It looked like he was thinking of something terrible.
Hao also noticed this. He looked at his brother and then at Anna, and with a plain voice he said:
"Next Question."
Finnally! I am aware that many of you want to kill me right now. XD Sorry! But yes, you guys now have some idea of what might have happened to Yoh-kun! I gave you some information of what happened to the twins during the past seven years! That's right! Their parents died!
And… Confession time: The words Next Question weren't meant to nearly show up as much as they did. XD I'm serious. They were meant to be only in the second chapter, and my intention was not to annoy you, but to show that they were hiding something. XD Thought when I saw how many people got really annoyed and really angry with those words, I couldn't help myself. XD I always try to put them somewhere in every chapter now. XD It's just so funny reading the reviews complaining about it. XD Sorry. I'll try to stop it, thought no promises.
Oh, and According to my calculations… You should know what really happened to the twins on Chapter 8. So only 4 more chapter to go! =D
And thank you so much for reviewing! I had forgotten that writing a multi-chapter fanfic can be fun, as long as people review it. In the Portuguese part of no one reads fanfic, so updating and writing in Portuguese has become a pain instead of something that I do for fun. But I'm loving writing this fanfic! I loved it! I know it sucks, but still! Receiving reviews just makes me really happy!
So review, otherwise I'll put a lot of Next Question in the next chapter! *evil laugh*