And alas, everything finally unfolds. Chapter 9. The second last chapter.
CHAPTER 9
Footsteps; the soft, almost musical-like pattering brought down upon the ground with each step like the ghostly rhythm to a song, a serene atmosphere brought upon the almost gruesome scene with haunting definition. Darkness fell and light was brought upon. The footsteps echoed throughout the entire area until it slowly beat down to soft pats onto the ground below.
Hao heard the soft approach of the stranger, and he smiled.
There across the aftermath of a battle stood Anna, her mouth gaped open in horror, staring at the nightmare before her. Hao looked directly at her, a thin line of blood escaping from his shut lips, his eyes never leaving hers, a small smile filling up on his face.
It was the same smile she saw in her dream.
The haunting eclipse from a picture that sketched and buried itself into her mind.
The smile ready to end it all.
The smile ready to die.
Blood.
Pure, innocent blood.
And just by looking at Hao's face one would never realize that there was something oddly eerie about the picture. Nobody would have guessed that besides a small wound across his lip and a trickle of blood slowly dripping out of his mouth that Hao Asakura was any other than lightly wounded.
Nobody would have thought to look beyond that, and realized that there was an ice pick pierced through his chest.
Blood blended with the water as ice cubes did in red wine; the colours from the portrait before Anna drawn with such expertise she almost fell under its trance of such unrivalled beauty.
But then it was over.
Rukio wrenched the ice pick out of Hao's chest in triumph and the man gasped, blood spilling out his mouth.
Sumiko remained frozen, her lip quivering, as though failing to realize what was happening before her.
"Asakura. . .?" she whispered.
Rukio merely stood there, basking in the moment of triumph, enjoying the looks of shock before him in glee; his fists clenched in victory. He glanced sideways at Sumiko who took a slow step forward every few seconds, her eyes staring at her husband in dismayed horror. He chuckled under his breath and turned to stare straight at Anna.
He grinned, his eyes livid.
"I told you." He whispered to her.
And Anna lost it.
"HAO ASAKURA, DON'T DIE, DAMN IT!!!!!" she screamed, running towards him.
"Anna!" Yoh gasped.
Anna was just a few feet away from Hao, her hands reaching out to touch him before a hole outstretched before her.
"No." she whispered throatily. "This can't be true."
A large, gaping hole was surfacing below them. . .no, more like, the ground seemed to be melting, and two red hands burst out from beneath the ground and grabbed Hao, malicious laughter filling the entire area. The laughter of the devil.
"Oh my God." Ren whispered, his voice hoarse.
Anna's eyes were wide, large and petrified.
"It's Hell's mouth." She whispered.
Hao was still smiling as he let it take him; letting it swallow him within its depths.
"HAO!!!!" Anna screamed.
He continued to smile at her, and her mouth laid hanging open, logic leaving her; for once helpless, her hands falling to her sides, her knees buckling.
Hao pointed in the direction of Sumiko, who was still staring forward at the scene, her eyes wide, tears falling down her face. Their eyes met, and the mouth hesitated; almost giving the two of them one last moment together. It waited for him to speak, but he didn't, and turned away from her to look at Anna one last time.
"Take care of Sumiko." He whispered, blood trickling down his mouth.
Rukio was laughing.
He was laughing so loud it very well seemed like he was trying to compete with the glee of the devil himself; having yet another prisoner.
And then he vanished from view; the ice melting away through the ground along with the rippling flames around them. The battle was complete.
And so did Hao, disappearing into the hole in the ground, the melting earth patching itself up with a further layer of dead soil and dirt, tainted red with blood.
Within seconds, silence befell the area once more.
The holocaust was complete.
And yet the maniacal laughter was still ringing in their ears.
Somehow, Anna couldn't stop the tears falling from her eyes.
"Hao cannot be dead." She said through choked sobs.
But yet, somehow he was.
"Are you planning something again, you sick bastard?" she whispered. "Because if you are, I'm going to dig you up and kill you myself."
Hao was always surprising people.
Keeping them questioning.
Even up till his dying day.
Was he dead?
Or was he still alive, chuckling in a corner somewhere about his own brilliance?
Cities fell.
The Earth opened.
Planets tilted.
Stars plummeted.
And the awful silence.
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For once, everyone was quiet.
There they sat in the coffee house, not a sound coming out of anyone's throats as they simply stared into their coffee cups, still struggling to comprehend the truth of past events. Hao was dead, something none of them ever dared to believe since the first second they met him. The man was an immortal. How the Hell did one slay an immortal?
Once every so often one would glance over to look at Sumiko to see if she was alright. But contrary to herself a few hours before, she was merely sitting down in her seat, staring at the clock on the wall, a lemon loosely hanging from her lip. Nobody would have guessed that just a few moments ago her husband was brutally murdered by her ex-fiancée. The soft ticking of the clock on the wall resounded across the table, a constant sound that none of them found irritating or present till now.
Sumiko slowly rose to her feet.
"I'm going home now." She said softly.
Nobody said anything, and after bowing to them slowly she tucked in her chair and took her leave from the group. Eyes followed her as she made her exit; the pitying stares toward a widowed woman. It was only as she left when they let out the breaths they were holding.
"Two deaths following the entrance of Rukio Makoto." Kino said miserably, setting her tea cup down on the table. "I wonder how many more lives have to be taken by this man before he's satisfied?"
All of a sudden the coffee shop that always brought them warmth seemed so cold, despite the hot cups of coffee before them.
Anna crossed her arms across her chest, shivering slightly as a chill went down her spine. Yohmei was dead. Hao was dead. A madman was still loose, out to kill a friend of hers that she cared for so much. A madman with the capabilities to kill Hao Asakura, the strongest man in the world.
It really was cold.
Suddenly warmth filled her as a coat was placed around her, her husbands' hands resting themselves on her shoulders. She turned to see him smiling down at him comfortingly. "It's getting late." He said in a soft whisper. "It's past midnight, and you have work tomorrow."
Almost in self-realization at his words, the others got up from their seats oddly and dropped spare change out of their pockets onto the table carelessly. "I still cannot believe that Hao's dead." Chocolove said, aghast.
"That's so unlike you." Yoh chuckled. "I thought you would be rhyming words with 'tomorrow' now. Like. . .Jack Sparrow. . .or give a car a tow or something." The others stared at Yoh in shock.
"Yoh, your brother's dead." Manta said uncomfortably. "Wouldn't it be bad to his memory to make such a. . ."
"My brother might be dead in person, but he's certainly not gone in spirit." Yoh said calmly, holding Anna close to him. He turned to smile at the others. "Don't worry." He said confidently. "Everything will be okay in the end."
Anna's expressions softened.
"Yoh. . ." she said softly.
"We should get going." Yoh said soothingly, escorting her to the exit. "It's going to be a hectic day tomorrow, I can just tell it."
The black clouds seemed to disperse at his words, and the troubles along the skies seemed to clear, departing for the sun to shine forth.
Outside on the roof sat Rukio, Malena and Yoko, surveying them from above. Rukio ate the lemon cake in his hands calmly. "That brother of Hao is indeed someone who can make even the Heavens stop crying." He chuckled, nodding approvingly. "Just as well that they have a little ray of sunshine with them. If they keep mourning over Yohmei and Hao's death, it would be really boring for me."
"So what do you plan to do now?" Yoko asked him curiously.
He turned to her lazily. "Isn't it obvious?" he said mundanely. "I've got two of the people that held the biggest threat to me out of the way."
"That's good, isn't it?" Yoko said.
"Not yet." Rukio murmured softly through layers of cake. "There's still one more person standing in my way."
"And who's that?"
"Idiot." Malena said impassively. "Anna Kyoyuma."
Rukio grinned at her. "How fast you catch on." He said, finishing his cake and got up to his feet, brushing his pants from the dirt. "Two down, one more to go before I lunge for the kill." He licked his lips as he watched Sumiko slowly walk away. "Prepare an open casket at sea for yourself, my love." He said softly.
"Are you going to kill Anna?" Yoko questioned him, breaking his silent monologue.
Rukio turned and chuckled lightly. "Nope." He said.
"Nope?" Malena said incredulously.
"Nope." He repeated. "Anna has powers able to surpass Hao, and fighting against Hao made me realize how much I was behind him." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I won him by defeating his heart, and he died protecting the woman he loved." He paused and sat back down to his feet, resting his chin on his palm, smirking slightly. "I can't win Anna by strength. And those you cannot win by strength, you win through. . ." he grinned at them, waiting for them to append his sentence.
"Her heart." Malena said softly.
Rukio nodded and grinned at her with a crooked smile. "That's right." He said. He watched the gang walk out of the coffee shop; solemn looks on their faces, yet it was brighter from what it was before. Gloom without despair, loneliness without being desolate, strength beyond strength.
His eyes followed the brother of his past master slowly and licked his lips. "I'll break you, you confident bastard." He said, getting up to his feet steadily. "I'll shatter you into a million pieces." His eyes were venomous with pure monstrous excitement. "Then I'll see how you can maintain that stupid smile on your face."
Yoko let out an involuntary shiver and Rukio turned to grin slyly and Malena. "We only have two days left." He said to her silkily. "Destroy the relationship that both he and Anna share by tonight."
"How will that get her out of your way?" Yoko asked curiously.
But Malena was smirking at Rukio knowingly; as he was to her.
"Understood." She said.
"I know you do." He replied.
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Yoh and Anna made their way home in silence, neither of them making a sound as their synchronized footsteps did the talking. When he paused for a minute to look up at the skies she paused with him. When she slowed down to walk against the shuddering wind, he slowed down just for her.
It was as he slowly fell to the same rhythm as her; the same heartbeat and the same speed when she stopped in mid-step, throwing him off balance. She was looking down on the floor, avoiding his gaze fidgety.
"Yoh." She said uncomfortably.
"Yeah?" he said hopefully.
"Can you please let go of me?"
He realized he was still holding her in a tight embrace, and let go of her in a hurried move, stepping away from her quickly. "I'm sorry." He mumbled under his breath.
"It's alright." She said awkwardly.
He paused, suddenly extremely interested in a nearby flower, Anna scratching the back of her head in a seemingly offhand moment before clearing her throat and stepped forward without him, their pace on different terms for once. And all it took was that one moment for him to realize something eerie happenings to the both of them and their tumbling marriage. She was escaping, and he was letting her.
Where did they stand, now that they were crumbling to pieces?
"Kyoyuma." He whispered out to her, ever so distant.
She stopped, her eyes wide.
The world stopped turning.
Voices stopped speaking.
And the wind stopped beating down upon their ashen faces.
And Anna slowly turned round to face him.
"W. . .what did you just say. . .?" she said dryly.
It was then when her phone chose the best moment to ring. The two of them continued to stare at each other, the screams of the cellphone unheard in the vortex the two were trapped within. The vortex, though isolate, brought them together as one once again.
Husband looked at wife.
Wife looked at husband.
An unspoken conversation took place.
"Is this. . .the end?"
And then they were brought back to reality, and Anna tore her eyes away from the man she loved and answered the phone with hesitant hands. "Hello?" she said distantly, her eyes trailing back to Yoh, who was looking back at her hollowly. Then she paused, her eyes wide with shock. There she stood, listening, understanding. . .unspeaking. And finally she put the phone down, placing it back into her pocket with trembling fingers.
"Who was that?" Yoh asked her.
She did not reply, a defeated sigh across her features. She looked at him, almost as if for the last time and turned to walk past him. "Nobody." She said quietly. "Let's head back."
He watched her leave, her footsteps unequal with his; not waiting for him or looking back to see where he was. She had made her mind up about something, and he had an uneasy feeling it had something to do with him. With a depressed sigh he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked after her steadily.
And in a car behind them, a young lady with different coloured eyes slowly burned up the picture of the once happy couple; the married duo cutting up the wedding cake together. She smiled grimly.
"Welcome to the end." She said in a sour voice, a crooked smile appearing across her features. "Or should I say. . . Accueillir à La Fin."
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It was midnight.
Sumiko once again found herself devoid of sleep. Her book was propped up before her in a perfect angle for her reading viewing. But her eyes merely skimmed the same lines over and over again without even realizing it; and when she finally snapped out of the reverie she was in she shut her eyes tiredly, rubbing her thumb and forefinger along the bridge of her nose.
Time to sleep.
She got up to her feet and made her way slowly and gracefully over to the windowsill and found herself staring straight into the eye of the luminous moon; an eye peeking through the Heavenly Gates down to the earth below. She made motion to step outside, but found a thick coating of invisible barrier before her, and sighed under her breath.
Of course. How could she forget. Anna had placed the strongest spell she could muster over the entire house; making it downright impossible for anybody to enter as long as there was a single breath in her body. Sumiko let a small weary smile escape her lips. Anna was indeed strong. Never would she be able to create such a powerful void like this; despite her many years of being an oracle.
She laughed bitterly.
She loved Anna for her care.
And hated herself for her lack of strength and inability to protect those that she loved.
Hao's features flashed through her memory once more.
His gentle smile, his loving caress.
"Take care of Sumiko."
Till the very end he was protecting her.
And all she could do was watch him die.
She slammed her fist against the wall before her angrily, her lip trembling. The night never felt so cold before. The wind was felt through the shut windows, the dready howl of the night seeping past concrete to haunt her dreams.
She remembered a time where she could spend a year in this sort of conditions out in the cold alone. She could sleep in the middle of a blizzard, walk through a sandstorm and stare into the Gates of Hell without a thought.
But then here she was.
"You've spoilt me." Sumiko whispered. "You cracked the surface."
Midnight.
And a minute passing.
"Not for the first time."
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Anna received one single missed call on her phone as the clock ticked a minute past midnight exactly, and sighed. So it was time. The point of no return. She got up to her feet and switched off the television before her. How long she stood there before the blank television she did not know, and it was only as she saw the approaching headlights of a car before their front door when she realized that she could stall no further.
She could not defeat time.
Nobody could.
What you could do was to try and stall time; try to pace yourself to a slower rate than possible, hoping to miss current events and jump back hours later to see how everything went. But we never win.
Time always does.
She took steady strides to her husband's room where he lay lying on the floor with the earphones over his ears. His back was facing her, but the moment she stepped before him he turned around; the state of marriage bringing them to a stage where they could simply tell each others presence without verbal contact.
He faced her, one side of his earphones drooping down below his ear, and he looked up at her. His trademark goofy grin was nowhere in sight, and he was looking up at her emptily. "Yes?" he asked her.
Somehow his words came out so foreign, and she struggled to comprehend.
"I'm heading out to see if Sumiko's okay." Anna said softly.
The usual Yoh would have asked to come along.
But he merely nodded.
"Alright." He said. "Take care."
Her heart sank and nodded, turning away from him. "I'll. . ." she said, her voice losing itself in her throat, tears threatening to break across her face. ". . .I'll see you when I get back, then." She finished in a choked voice.
"Okay." He replied.
And without a second look at him, she shut the door behind her and made her way to the front door of her house to find Malena standing there in a beautiful black dress that accentuated her curves, if possible, even more. The very look of her would turn any man into a puddle at her feet. She smirked at Anna, patting her lightly on the shoulder. "I'll try to make this short and sweet." She said sarcastically.
Unable to find it within herself to speak, Anna turned and walked away.
On the rooftop, Rukio and Yoko sat, smirks on their faces.
"Let the show begin." Rukio whispered.
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Anna slowly made her way down the streets, the wind whisping her hair across her view. Then came the horrid cry. The screeching caw of the raven as it screamed on a tree branch on the huge oak that stood before her at the end of the park lane. She paused, thinking her thoughts over.
Then came her whisper, both as a question as it were a prayer.
"Would you remain faithful?"
Then came her answer; the shrill caw from the trees above.
The cry of the raven.
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Yoh lay down on the flat of his back, looking up at the ceiling above. "Was I too harsh?" he asked himself softly. Without an answer, he turned over to look over at Amidamaru, but then remembered he was out drinking with Bason and Tokagero. He sighed and rolled over, looking downwards at himself.
"It wasn't my fault, anyway." He mumbled under his breath. "She was the one who was ignoring me the entire damn month. She was the one who flinched to the slightest touch. She was the one who walked away from me, leaving me desolate and alone." His eyes filled with unknown tears, foreign to his taste. "And I'm sick of it." He paused.
"Sick of what, soldier?"
He blinked and looked upwards to see one of the most silky, milky white, beautiful slender legs he had ever seen. He literally held his breath as he looked further upwards to find a woman in a tight black evening dress, a wine glass held loosely in her hand. She smirked at him. "Checked me out enough?"
He blushed and sat upright, practically salivating.
"You're Yoko's friend." He said dryly.
"That I am."
"What are you doing in my house?" he asked her.
"No reason strong enough to back up my coming here past midnight." She said in a nonchalant shrug, an action that jumped her swelled bosom, and his eyes followed them dangerously, almost salivating now. And she knew she would have him eating out the palm of her hand in no time. "I hope you're fine with it." She said in a sultry whisper, drawing the wine glass to her lips, the drink sliding down her throat sensually, a thin line missing her lips, dripping onto her pale skin into her wonderful cleavage, dripping down the line between her breasts into her shirt.
Yoh shivered in almost to an extent of inappropriate hunger.
"Yoh?" she whispered.
"W. . .what?" he asked, drawing away from his raptous stare.
She smirked. It was almost too simple. "Where's your dear wife Anna now?" she asked him throatily.
"I. . .I don't know." He stuttered. "Out somewhere, I guess."
"Is that so?" she said, a small smirk adorning her face, dropping the empty wine glass onto the floor and got down on all fours before him. "So I guess she wouldn't mind if I just stay here with you for a minute, would she?"
"I. . .I guess not." Yoh said nervously.
Rukio, outside, grinned.
Malena licked her lips slowly, smirking up at him. "Excellent." She said, slowly making a move toward him, never breaking eye contact with him, and she could see him almost strapping himself down with lead chains to stop himself from touching her. Chains holding down a man were the easiest to break.
Samson broke himself by falling for a woman in lust.
Yoh was just about to do the same.
He was unconscious of the normal thoughts one would think when a woman suddenly entering ones room this late at night. One, why was she here? Two, he suspected Yoko, so he naturally should suspect this friend of hers too. And three, she gave him all the clues of a hidden agenda. And what would he do to that?
She drew a finger to his thigh, licking her lips. "I heard from Yoko that the relationship between you and your wife is steadily going downhill." She said in an offhand yet piercingly straightforward voice. When he flinched she drew a gentle finger to his face, caressing him in a way that would send any man to jelly. "Is it true that you haven't had the chance to. . ." her hand slowly slid down to press against his chest; his tender beating heart. "Hold her hand?" her hand fell snug into his, entwining hers with his.
His eyes were raptously staring into hers, gulping like a goldfish out of water, his breathing erratic and fast.
"Feel her lips against yours?" she drew on in steady breath, her lips inches away from his; so close she could almost taste his lips with his breath. "Have her hands on you?" came her voice onwards in a gentle purr, her hand gently rocking against his crotch, and he gasped out loud, but, to her smugness, he did not turn away.
Her eyes never left his, and slowly her lips inched towards his, taking one of his hands in a bold move and pressed it against the warmth of her breast. He literally groaned out loud, his hand shaking in animalistic desire. She licked her lips, literally taking his breath away once more. "Have your hands on her?"
A nod.
"You know what I'm thinking, Yoh Asakura?" she said throatily.
And through the smirk that maintained on her face in triumph came a small wince of pain as his lips crashed down ferociously over hers.
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Anna stood there, looking up at the tree in a transfixed stare. There was something haunting about the bird that stood perched up on it. The cry that sounded ever so bitterly a few moments ago, almost warning her of present or possible future events. The funny thing was not the fact that she was staring up at the tree in request for an answer, it was the fact that it was staring down at her the whole time.
"Should I go back?" she questioned it.
It stared down at her, cocking its head curiously before it perched and burst into the sky in a flurry of wings and feathers.
Stay, and be haunted forever.
Return, and find an answer.
Easy solution.
She smiled grimly.
"Take flight." She said softly.
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Yoh was hungry.
Not just for Anna, Heavens no. Suddenly he felt lust filling his veins, a small plain of drool forming across the side of his lip but he didn't bother to wipe it away, grabbing Malena's head downward into a forceful kiss. She moaned into it, but a chuckle came out of her lips at it, pulling away from him.
"You want me, don't you?"
Hell, yes.
"Then take me."
And he did.
Their tongues dueled against each other in each others mouths, his hands tearing off pieces of her clothing, his mind suddenly blank; devoid of anything other than the goddess before him. Her body was truly sculpted to beauty; her breasts were well-formed, a skin tight waist and legs that seemed to go on forever. He torn off the top of her dress and stared down at her wearing nothing under it in glee.
"Like what you see?" she said with a smirk.
Yes, he did.
His tongue snaked around her breasts, milking her hungrily, feeling her writher and giggle beneath him, her legs wrapping themselves around his waist, her eyes straught with passion and lust almost equaling his. But there was something else in there other than wanting. Was it glee? Triumph? A hidden pride?
Who gave a shit?
All he knew was that he was going to do her. Do her well. Not make love, but do her. And he was going to enjoy it as much as he could too. He was in the process to rip off the bottom of her dress when he paused when he realized what colour it was.
"You're wearing. . .black." he whispered.
She giggled. "You've just realized that now?" she said. "What were you trying to do just now, see through my dress the whole time?"
But he was not paying attention to a single word she was saying.
She was wearing a black dress.
A black dress.
FLASHBACK A Girl Called Anna Chapter 7
"Wow."
Yoh was speechless. It was one too many a time where he just sat in one corner, dazing out into nothingness, thanking the Lord that he had Anna as his fiancée. She was sweet in her own silent way, smart, strong, beautiful, HOT, cool, which was pretty much the whole package. There were times where he would just be saying to himself "Anna Kyoyuma is my fiancée."
And it tasted sweet on his lips.
This was one of those moments as he just stood there at the doorway, staring at Anna as she slowly stepped down the steps from her room, a small smile on her face. What she was was one thing. What she was wearing was another. It was a long, silky, black, hugging her curves in the right places, but flowed below her ankles. It high-lighted her bosom in an obvious yet classy way.
She was beautiful in every way.
Yoh turned away from Malena, his eyes suddenly brightening with self-dawning.
"What. . .am I doing?" he whispered to himself.
"What are you mumbling about?" she said playfully, grabbing his hand and placing it on the softness of her thigh. But she received no reaction, and Yoh slowly got to her feet. A faint sense of fear prickled her spine and she drew up to her knees, opening her mouth to speak when he threw a towel in her direction.
"I'm sorry for trying to rape you." He said softly under his breath, and her eyes widened. "It was because of a long distance away from my wife that caused me to act so irrationally." He looked away. "I'm sorry."
"What are you talking about?" she said nervously. "It's not rape if I want sex as much as you." She got up to her feet. "I don't mind you taking me at all."
"You don't." he said, already miles away from her. "But I do."
Her eyes bulged.
Here she was, half-naked before a man, and he was saying no to her?? This had never happened before. Her throat was dry, a thin line of perspiration appearing on her forehead. "You. . .you can't want her more than me." She laughed, feeling herself fighting a losing battle. His eyes were already faraway, and she was nowhere in them. "I'm more beautiful than she could ever be. I'm gentler. I have a better body. I have everything better than her!!! So. . ."
" But you're not her." He replied simply, and she fell flat in sentence. The moon was drawing away in the clouds, and there he stood by the window, his figure looking almost like a silhouette by himself, and in that moment he looked so much more than a man than he already was, surpassing all barriers. He turned to her, a small smile on his face. "What's the use of being better than her if you can't be her?"
Facing her dismal expressions he chuckled lightly and drew his hands into his pockets. "I don't know who sent you here or if you really do like me, but I'm sorry to say that I will never love you as much as I love my wife."
"Horse shit." She spat, losing all cool now. "She doesn't let you touch her. She doesn't even let you kiss her. She draws herself away from you for God's sake!!!"
"Then so be it." came his voice like beautiful music down an empty corridor. "As long as she still loves me, I will never leave her side." He gave her a sorrowful smile. "I think it's time for you to leave."
She had lost.
She was defeated.
By this man and his stupid smile.
It was as she got ready to leave when she heard the distinct sounds of a door closing, and the tapping of footsteps towards this room. Apparently Yoh heard it too, and turned to the source of the noise, smiling expectantly.
"Anna." He whispered.
When in defeat, drag someone down with you.
It's only natural.
Anna opened the door, gasping for breath from the run only to see her husband in the arms of a half naked young lady, her arms wrapping around his neck.
And somewhere above the house where they stayed, a man started to laugh.
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Anna simply stood there, thunderstruck, her hands that were first curled up in fists sagging loosely by her sides. It was here when her life came crashing down to her feet, sending her somewhere where roses shed blood and tears faded into dust. Hours seemed to pass as she continued to stare at the horrific painting that was drawn before her until Yoh finally noticed her and flung the woman away from him.
She hit the wall behind him with a small cry, but a smirk started to steadily form across her lips. "Checkmate." came her soft whisper.
Yoh saw not only the anger and sadness in her eyes, but the ready tears of betrayal. The ready tears of adultery. "Anna, I can explain all of this." He fumbled with his words. "It's not exactly how it looks. . ."
She gave a hollow laugh. "That's an original one."
"Listen to me, Anna." said Yoh in a voice, to Malena's joy, etched with fear and desperation. The fear from a man whose marriage was about to fall tumbling down within the next few seconds. "This was set up by Yoko. I don't know why, and I can't explain why either, but. . ."
"Oh, quit with the bullshit." Anna said harshly, and he stumbled in his words, finally crashing. Her face showed none of sadness, but of anger and unaffected scorn toward him. "You cheated on me. That's the bottom line. No matter who put her up to this or why she put her up to this is none of our business. I could barely give beeswax about that. What I actually give a shit about is that. . ." she dropped in her monologue, choking on her words. "My husband didn't love me enough to stay faithful to me."
The words struck him hard, and his voice left him, staring at her with bulging eyes.
Anna bowed slowly and steadily to Malena, an action that Malena returned with a mere smirk of amusement. "A job well done." She said sarcastically.
"Thank you." Malena answered.
Anna gave her husband one last look. One last look of hate, one last look of sorrow, one last look of remembrance. . .
And then she was gone out the door.
Yoh stared forward, dumbstruck before turning to Malena, malicious anger boiling up inside him. "You dirty, filthy. . ." he growled with shaking fury before running out after his wife.
And there sat Malena alone.
She stayed sullen for a moment, looking up at the ceiling in a sigh. "Another job well done." She muttered under her breath. She shut her eyes. "What am I to destroy now?" Nothing replied her and she let out a short bark of a laugh. "Dirty and filthy. . .that's one way to put it, I guess."
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Anna was hurt.
Torn.
Demolished.
Destroyed.
Yoko was right about men from the very beginning all along, and Anna was just stupid enough to play along with the game. She ran down the empty streets; the same path that she took to the tree before, just that this time she was a shattered soul of what she was before. All she was was what she used to be.
But less.
She stopped running as she finally made her way back to the tree and knelt down before it. "I'm such an idiot." She said in a hushed sob, tears falling down her cheeks.
"No, I am."
She looked up to find Yoh looking down at her solemnly, a pale look of disintegration across his features. She wiped her tears away furiously. "I do not want to speak to you, Yoh." She said with a voice of struggled calm.
"Anna, I'm sorry. I made a mistake. I'm stupid, just so damn stupid. . .all I ask is for you to forgive me." He pleaded. "Just this once. I'll never do it again."
She looked away.
"It doesn't even matter anymore."
Above them, Rukio stood, smiling softly at the siege he had set.
The wind blew, rustling the leaves, scattering the trees within themselves. The bird had flown back onto its branch, wary and reproachful. It was cautious, but then it was also still curious. But then its curiousity was lost by its defensive state, and in seconds it burst into flight once more, escaping into the sky.
"I want a divorce, Yoh."
The wind caught up with it, catching it within its pale breath. And in that moment it was frozen; unable to move forward or behind. It was caught, and there was no escaping but to strive forward.
Yoh's voice stuck itself in his throat, a pale line of sweat slowly trickling down the side of his forehead. A mother and her child walked past them, laughing at a joke that only the two of them shared; a secret only the two of them will know about.
She must be joking.
She can't want a divorce.
She must still love me.
She can't. . .
She wouldn't. . .
She mustn't. . .
"Anna. . ."
"Don't try to talk me out of this." She said in a soft undertone. Her anger was gone now along with her sadness. And all that was left was a resolute heart. . .a determined heart. "I've been thinking about this for a long time. I was wondering if this loose marriage really was something worth fighting for since the start. . .I guess I'm simply not as important to you as I thought I was."
"Anna, don't say that. . ."
She got up to her feet.
"My mind's made up, Yoh."
Never had she looked so determined and confident of herself than she did at that moment. Her head was tilted upwards at the skies, her hands loose at her sides, one of her legs stood before the other in an almost defiant stance. And it was then when he realized how much he would miss her if she left him. . .and how she looked so damn beautiful before him.
If only a slap would succeed to bottle her anger.
But even he knew that this was something a smile could not suffice.
She turned to him, and there was a small smile on her face; making her look almost angelic. The smile was not one toward a loved one or the deadly one before advancing to a hated. It was neutral, and blended well with the night.
"Okay?" she said.
His mouth that had just opened to speak stopped and sagged, lost before her. She was there before him, yet she was worlds away from his reach. She gave one last sad smile to him before turning to leave. He got up to his feet almost instantaneously, but her hand placed itself on his shoulder and he lost his strength; his knees buckling, and fell back to the seat.
"I'm going."
And she walked away.
She kept walking and he kept watching her helplessly, his tears falling down his cheeks as her figure merely turned into an image, then to a silhouette then to the remains of a faded photograph.
And then she was gone.
And he broke down in heart wrenching tears.
Rukio above, got to his feet, his eyes gleaming with pure malicious pride.
"I win." He said, his eyes dark and poisonously gleeful of a champion; a champion whose life was burrowed in the shadows from a forever reigning champion. Whose life was cruelly finished.
"Hao Asakura."
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"Sumiko. Do you love me?"
"Why would you ask me such a question?"
"That's because I never heard you say that to me before."
"Well then, do you love me?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do."
"Then if you do, Asakura, you should be able to take my answer in a rhetorical sense and find it within yourself, don't you think?"
"Now you're just teasing me."
"I don't tease. I just do not feel like answering your question."
"Is that right?"
"Yes."
"Then can you answer me two other questions, then?"
"It depends on what they are."
"Why do you keep calling me Asakura?"
"Not going to answer that one."
"Well then, let me ask you another."
"Fire away, then."
She was alone.
Yet again.
She could almost feel the dawn breaking; the requiem of the new day. She pressed her fingers against the barrier outside her window, a small feeling of queasiness prickling her senses when she felt her fingers slowly ease themselves through it, a cold rush of the night air brushing against them.
"Anna. . ." she whispered under her breath, a chill going down her spine. The ease of breaking a seal without really trying could only mean two things about the user, that user being Anna. Either she had a broken heart of some sort and her powers wavered, or. . .
"I believe in the shifting of the universe, Sumiko. I trust in the change of time and the demonstrability of future happenings. But what I find difficult is the finding of a person whom you can trust yourself to fall in love with, and spend the rest of your life with."
A cold rush of the evening air brushed against her shoulders, brought forward by the distinct rustling of leaves. A shadow tapped its feet onto the ledge of its window, a small smirk filling its face.
"What are you trying to tell me, Asakura?"
"I guess what I'm trying to tell you. . .ask you, more like. . .is something that I never thought I would say, even to someone that I was in love with. I guess that's what makes me love you even more."
There stood Rukio by her windowsill, a look of pure malicious glee across his features as he looked down at her; his Spirit of Water behind him, clicking its teeth menacingly. His eyes were pale and cold, blending in with the air he brought the atmosphere into.
"Asakura. . .?"
"Sumiko Yakumo. . ."
His grin filled his entire face and in a swift movement the Spirit of Water had her clamped in its hand, holding her up in the air, bare noses away from Rukio. And the master cocked his head, licking his lips.
"Hello, Sumiko."
"Will you marry me?"
Breathless, she took one last gulp of fresh air, her head filled with cold sweat. And Rukio, almost lovingly, wiped the sweat away with the back of his hand, placing a lemon into her mouth with a gentle caress.
"I'm sure as an oracle, you saw this day coming." He said. "The death of me, the entrance of Hao, the revival of me, the death of Hao. . ." his face split into a devilish grin. "And the death of you."
"You want me to. . ."
"Yes, Sumiko. Marry me."
"I didn't, actually." She said stiffly, the lemon dropping out of her mouth.
"Well, then. . ." he spoke slowly, almost deliberately, an ice pick forming in his hand. "I guess there are things even you cannot foresee." He smirked. "Who would have thought that the once ever-great Hao Asakura would get brutally murdered. . ." The Spirit of Water's right had was slowly churning, morphing into what seemed to be a huge blade of ice, glinting in the moonlight. ". . .by me?"
A lone tear fell from her face.
He grinned.
"Goodbye, Sumiko." He whispered, the blade now sharp and ready, steady meters away from her, ready to pierce into her. It churned and growled in an undertone, the moonlight glimmering against its pale frame.
"This is for leaving me."
Her eyes widened.
"Will you marry me, Sumiko?"
The blade burst toward her with tremendous speed, almost as if it were an alive with unstoppable animalistic hunger. Hunger to kill, hunger to pierce into.
The lust for death.
And Sumiko shut her eyes.
"Goodbye." She whispered softly, a tear falling from her cheeks.
"Yes."
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How long she had her eyes shut she did not know.
But all she knew was that the pain did not come.
The torturous ache in the side of her stomach from the ice pick that was charging at her with full speed. She felt the tears at the sides of her cheeks dry up and crystallize; the entrance of the new dawn breaking.
And she opened her eyes.
Flames burst out from all corners, almost swallowing the cold air with its warmth. And in her mouth was that lemon once more.
But it was not the sudden warmth in the air or the disappearance of pain that surprised her. Neither was the sight of Yoh and Anna standing across from her behind Rukio, their fingers entwined together, small smiles on their faces; Yoh's sword barely inches away from Rukio's face.
It was the billowing cloak.
The baggy jeans.
The air of cruel arrogance.
And that smug smirk.
That familiar smirk that she had grown so used to.
Rukio's face was daunted with shock and anger, confusion hovering across his features. "You. . ." he whispered, his voice filled with rage. "You are. . ."
The chuckle.
"Hao Asakura." He said calmly. The Spirit of Fire burst out behind him, a taunting grin spread across his features.
The features of the victorious.
"And come any closer to my wife and I'll kill you."
END CHAPTER 9
The final chapter, where everything finally comes into place. How did Hao escape the Gates of Hell? What is the secret of Yoh and Anna's breakup? What is to become of Malena and Yoko? Ren and Pirika, Horo and Tamao. And the true secrets behind the face-off between Rukio and Hao Asakura.
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW IF YOU ENJOYED IT, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!
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