–
When the road gets dark
And you can no longer see,
Let my love throw a spark
Have a little faith in me.
—"Faith in Me" by John Hiatt
–
The following day, the blonde found refuge in a small café, deep in thought as she watched the world move outside the window, while absentmindedly twirling a cup of coffee in her hands.
She could not believe Yoh had behaved the way he had. What in the world was happening to him? No matter what she had said or done, Yoh had never, ever reacted in such a violent manner. With her, he had always been calm and patient, even when she was being the bitchiest person on Earth. So why did he lash out precisely when she showed concern for him?
Deep inside, Anna knew that something was wrong. The problem – whatever his problem was – ran deeper than simply a bad mood. Yoh had been upset the night before. He had seemed… different. Something had happened to him – and that something had been strong enough to change him. But for the life of her, Anna could not figure out what that something could be.
Yoh had been through a lot, that was a given, and in the majority of cases, she had been right by his side. The tournament had surely been harsh enough to reward him with some of the worst experiences. She briefly wondered whether he had ever reacted in such a way before. She reached the conclusion that she couldn't know, and that she shouldn't care, in the first place. She was there for him. She had always been there for him when he needed her. Anna might be cold and standoffish most of the times, but there was one thing in the world that she was not, and that was selfish. Especially when it came to Yoh – to the one and only person who she loved with all of her heart.
Whenever he needed her, she had been there – in her own way, she admitted, but she had been there, and he had always understood and appreciated that. So, what had gone wrong this time?
Was it her demanding tone that had topped everything off and finally made him snap?
Anna was not stupid. She knew Yoh had long since realized that something was wrong with her, and that was not due to the questions he asked continuously. It was due to the fact that she knew him. She hadn't fooled him one bit, and she had been aware of that all along. They had both been aware of the fact that she kept lying uselessly, that she was fighting to keep up a façade that had already been broken through. The only reason why they continued to play that game was her – it was her stubborn nature, her inability to face problems headlong, it was her fright of revealing the truth to anybody, even to Yoh, even when she knew perfectly well that he would understand her better than anyone.
Looking back, she could see why he had snapped at her, why he had come to doubt her feelings for him, to doubt everything they had built together. That was her own fault, and it was one of the few things Anna wasn't afraid to admit. The question was… why did he react in that manner?
He had been perfectly fine the last time she had seen him, and Anna knew better than to believe that he had become mad out of the blue because he had suddenly reached some conclusions. No. The night before had not been about them. The night before had been about him being upset – being upset because of something that she did not know – and taking his anger out on her, on them.
And in spite of all the annoyance and resentment that simple thought awoke inside of her, Anna was worried. Worried about him – about all the problems he could possibly have. And if that was the way he had been feeling for the past few months, the blonde felt more than ready to tell him everything the moment he made his appearance.
Of course, that was easier said than done.
"Anna!" the familiar voice of Jun snapped her out of her thoughts, bringing her back to reality. Looking up, she caught the woman in process of taking a seat at the table, across from her. "Are you alright? What happened? I heard you two screaming at each other last night!"
"Yes, you probably did," the blonde answered, resigned, as she looked back down at her cup of coffee. "Along with the rest of the house."
"What happened?" she repeated.
Anna rolled her eyes. "That is our problem exclusively, Jun."
"I know, but… I'm worried about the two of you, Anna. You guys almost never fight. I mean, I know I've never –"
"Yoh and I…" she began, pausing for a moment to clear her throat, before continuing, "Yoh and I have been having some problems. He's hiding things from me, and I –"
"He's hiding things from you?" Jun repeated, interrupting her. Anna raised an eyebrow at the incredulous tone she had used. "Is that what you're so mad about?"
"Do you think that's little?" she countered, sarcasm coating her voice.
"Do you even realize how much of a freaking hypocrite you're being right now?"
"Yes," she hissed, leveling her glare with one of her own. "And no, I don't care. It's different, no matter how you look at it. And besides, I told you once, and I'll repeat myself if I have to: this never happened."
"You know, this is going to sound as shocking as hell, especially for a person so deep in denial like you, but you, Anna Kyoyama," she said, pointing her finger at her, "are acting like a child, who thinks that if he just sticks his hands over his ears and goes "nah nah nah nah nah", then the problem will go away. Newsflash: it won't!"
"You know what?" Anna snapped, leaning forward in her seat. "I never wanted this to happen. And I'm not proud of the decisions I've made, but I've done my best."
"I'm sure you've realized by now that 'your best' isn't enough," Jun replied. "There's only one thing you can do in order to pull yourself out of this misery you're buried in: accept who you are."
"That would be so much easier if I actually knew who I am!" she whispered harshly, making a conscious effort to keep her voice down. "But how would you know? You've always had the world at your feet. So don't you dare come here now, in front of me, and give me advice like you actually know what you're talking about!"
"So what am I supposed to do? As a friend, as a person who cares about you? Stand aside and watch as you sink into depression?"
"For your information, I am not depressed," she retorted. "I'm behaving like I've been taught, like I've always behaved. And maybe if you stopped seeing me as that little girl you once knew, as that five-year-old Annalise, you'd see that nothing has actually changed. Except for you and your perception of me. I know that, in your mind, Annalise is a totally different person, with completely different habits and a radically different way of seeing life, but the harsh truth is, I'm still Anna. And that's that."
Jun shook her head, stubbornly holding her ground. "I've said it before and I'll say it again: you need to accept who you are. You keep complaining that you don't know yourself. Well, that's because you aren't making an effort to know yourself! All you have to do is look deep inside you and you'll find –" She stopped abruptly when she saw her shake her head.
"You don't get it, Jun," she said, and her voice was so calm and collected that it almost scared her. But when she looked into her eyes, there was no storm preparing to unfold. There was calmness, there was resignation – and a deep sense of wisdom that Jun had never truly seen in her before.
And she remembered then, just how much this girl had been through – how much she was still going through. How much of a burden she had chosen to carry by herself.
"You don't get why I stopped caring. You don't get why I stopped trying to put the pieces back together. You don't get why I never even truly attempted, in the first place. And that's alright, because in the end, when it all comes down to it, you wouldn't even want to get it. You wouldn't want to understand, because that would put you in my place – and that's not somewhere anybody would like to be."
–
–
–
Funbari Park. Come.
That was what his message said.
Truthfully, in the first couple of seconds, Anna wanted to ignore him – that, or tell him to hang himself from the closest tree branch. Although she understood – or rather, better said, she could make suppositions about – part of his reasoning, that didn't mean his behavior had stopped bothering her. It still did, and a whole lot, at that. The man she had seen the night before had not been the Yoh she had fallen in love with, and 'disturbing' was a word that didn't even begin to cover the bundle of emotions that had taken residence in an uncomfortable place of her heart.
But there was something inside of her that rendered her unable to do what she had set her mind on, what would, in all reality, have been expected from her. She wasn't used to this. She wasn't used to being upset with him, and she most definitely wasn't used to being confused about his behavior.
More than that, though, more than the discomfort this situation caused her, she wanted her Yoh back. She yearned for him. But most importantly, she needed him.
–
–
–
He raised his head from where it lay in his hands when he sensed her approaching presence. Messy strands of brown hair fell in his eyes as he looked up, in time to catch the first glimpse of her walking down the path that led to him.
The day was dark, cold. The sky was covered with steel-colored clouds; frozen raindrops had descended earlier, leaving a thick blanket of mist in their wake.
He hadn't closed an eye the entire night. Yet, by the time he gathered the courage to exit his room, she had been long gone. No one had seen her that morning.
But she was there now.
Dressed in a short, black coat and a red blouse beneath, with light-colored pants and simple, brown boots, she snuggled in a cozy-looking, beige scarf. Her long, blonde hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, and she looked as perfectly put-together as she always had, but he was unable to tell whether she was wearing make-up.
He watched, wide-eyed, as she approached him, crossing her arms over her chest before coming to a stop right in front of him.
"You came…" he whispered. Her simple presence seemed surreal at that point.
Anna nearly scoffed, but answered calmly, "Of course I did."
For a moment, he hesitated. He averted his eyes and swallowed thickly. A silent battle seemed to take place inside of him, before he made up his mind and, straightening his posture, reached behind his back.
It took every ounce of self-control contained in her small body not to take a step back. The shock she was feeling must have been etched on her features, though – perhaps even the fear.
There was a part of her that told her to yell at him, to demand explanations, to scream until he told her exactly why he had lied to her, to shout and shout until he untangled this web of confusion right before her eyes. But there was another part of her, wiser, more experienced, less willing to continue hiding behind a façade, that told her she had been aware of this for a far longer time than she would even dare to acknowledge.
"What do you think I use this for?" he asked, placing the black gun beside him, on the wooden bench, and in that moment, he seemed old – tired, weary, worn-out both on the inside and on the outside. "You get one guess."
Anna scowled. "I'm not stupid, Yoh," she snapped. Then she shook her head, gently. "But no… I know better than to believe that you're capable of –"
"I killed my own brother, Anna," he reminded her, pain lacing his voice. "Why wouldn't I be able to kill a bunch of strangers?"
Her eyes widened at his declaration, the reality that she had been fighting so hard to avoid rapidly gaining ground and catching up with her. Her heartbeat quickened, fear of the unknown racing through her veins. Her entire body froze. What was she to do now?
"See?" Yoh asked, looking up at her in an almost pleading manner. "This is why I didn't want you to know. This is why I fought to keep you away from all this. Because I knew that, once you found out, nothing would ever be the same." Heaving a sigh, he reached in the pocket of his coat and pulled out the engagement ring she had thrown at him a mere couple of hours before. The precious stones glimmered in the faint light as he held it between his fingers, gazing down at it with an unreadable look in his eyes.
Anna remained silent throughout the entire scene.
"I gave you this because I love you," he continued. "And yes, I admit, because I wanted to have some kind of guarantee that you wouldn't leave me as soon as the truth about this whole situation came out." He huffed an amused breath. "I suppose the latter didn't work out quite right… But I'd like you to keep wearing it… if that's not too much to ask, because… because I have a feeling it might keep them away from you. But –"
"Idiot!" she snapped, closing the distance between them in two angry strides. "Give me that." Snatching the ring from his hands, she slipped it on her finger, where it belonged, without a moment of hesitation. "We've been through worse."
"Anna…" he murmured, looking up at her in surprise.
"I don't care who you're killing, for God's sake!" she exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "I care because I know it's killing you." Crouching down in front of him, she cupped his face within her hands and demanded his attention. "Listen to me. I know you want the best for everybody. I never doubted that. But there are some people out there that cannot be saved. Like your brother. Think about how many lives you saved by taking one – and the balance changes. Now, we might have to deal with some unpleasant situations in order to make everything alright, to make this world a better place… But we will succeed. I promise."
"I never killed anybody," he told her, his eyes beginning her – begging her to believe him. "I swear I never did."
Her eyes were warm and steady as she assured him, "I believe you."
Touched by his sincerity, by his courage, by his willingness to tell her the truth no matter the possibly painful consequences, Anna felt that it was finally time for her to do the same. Jun was right. She needed to stop acting like a child. Yoh had always been so carefree, and now he seemed a thousand years old to her. He was a man who knew when it was time to become serious, and compared to him, Anna felt like she had been fooling around with a cheap façade of seriousness. Because, deep inside, she had been a scared baby all along. But now it was time to grow up.
"I have something to tell you," she announced, meeting his curious gaze. "Remember that… that personal problem I wanted to solve on my own?"
Yoh shook his head. "Not now, Anna," he said. "I'm sorry, but… but I don't think I'll be able to focus on what you say. Let's leave it for another time, alright?"
Her brows furrowing, she could only nod dumbly. "Sure," she agreed. She hesitated for a long moment, before venturing, "Is there something wrong?"
Heaving a breath, Yoh closed his eyes, though not before the blonde could see the pain glimmering in them. His answer, when it came, was a whisper. "They killed Silva, Anna."
"What?" she breathed, standing up in an abrupt movement.
She never received an answer.
Silva meant so much to Yoh. He was a father, a friend, a counselor – he had helped him in everything. Their bond could have only grown stronger in the two years he had been away form her, and she could only imagine how much pain he was feeling at that point. She didn't even know what to tell him. What could she possibly say to make him feel better? What could she possibly say to sympathize with him?
"I'm sorry," he spoke before she could, gazing up at her pleadingly. "I felt guilty. And I felt angry. And you were there – so close, so real." He chocked on his own words. "I'm sorry."
In the end, she realized that no words could soothe him now. Stepping forward, she tugged him in her arms, letting him cling to her as he buried his face into her stomach. He didn't cry, didn't as much attempt to tell her what he was feeling, but she knew how much the simple fact that she was there meant to him. Running her fingers through his thick hair, she heaved a sigh.
Would anything ever be alright again?
–
–
–
Anna's mind was reeling by the time she parted ways with Yoh. He had offered to take her home, but she had declined; she needed space, some time to herself. She would be foolish and naïve to think that she would actually find a solution to the problem, but analyzing a situation had always calmed her down – it had always given her a much better grip on life. And maybe it was an illusion she had conjured up for herself, but she needed the sense of comfort and security it gave her no matter whether it was real or not.
Her hands buried in her pockets, she kept her gaze on the ground, blue eyes watching yet not truly seeing, mind lost in its own connections.
Yet she knew immediately when something was wrong. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and her heart-rate increased unexplainably. Anna might be in the dark when it came to knowledge, but her sixth sense was there – and it was as strong as it had always been.
There was a man standing in front of her, about six feet away. He was tall, fair-skinned, with messy blond hair and black clothes. As piercing green eyes started right back into her own, Anna didn't need to look around to know she was alone with their possessor.
She never slowed down, though. She never looked away. There wasn't a single falter in her step.
Either it was that that amused the stranger, or he already was in a particularly good mood.
"Hello," he greeted once she was in hearing range.
Anna walked past him and then turned around, her mind buzzing with nothing of what her expression showed.
He smirked. "I must say, I consider myself quite lucky right now. How did that Asakura allow you to leave by yourself, huh?"
The blonde raised her eyebrows. "That Asakura does not own me," she decided to say after a moment of silence.
"Oh, I think he does," he argued, and leaned against the sleek black car that was conveniently parked beside him. Titling his head forwards, he seemed to challenge her as he asked, "What's your name?"
Anna refused to bite. "You'd give your life to find out, wouldn't you?" she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest, blue eyes boring into his green ones.
For a moment, he seemed surprised. Then, laughing, he placed his hand over his hip and pulled his coat back to slowly reveal something that Anna had never known she could hate so much until that particular day.
But it took more than a gun to faze her when she was in a bad mood. "Yes, I think you would," she said.
"You haven't changed at all, Annalise," he declared with a wry shake of the head, and had it not been for her incredible self control, her eyes would have widened and her expression betrayed her. "You are every bit as reckless as you used to be. You thought we didn't know. You thought we were stupid."
"No, I don't think about you," she corrected. "I have a life. That you're stupid – that's a fact and knowledge of mine."
With yet another laugh, the man reached for his weapon and slowly raised his hand to point it straight at her, his finger on the trigger.
Anna closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, before reopening them and gazing sideways at him, annoyance blazing in her blue orbs.
"That's right." He grinned. "Those eyes won't lie to anybody."
Raising her eyebrows, she gave a small nod; then, with a smirk, took a step closer.
The blond cocked his head to the side, amused and intrigued, but his hand never wavered.
"You must think of yourself as very strong and very high and very mighty now, since you have a gun." She spoke as if she was only then contemplating her words, as if she was looking for approval when in reality, she had never needed any in her entire life. "In control, too," she added.
He pretended to ponder his thoughts for a second, before he answered, "Yes."
He never saw it coming. One moment, he was staring at the blonde in the eye, and the next, his head was slammed against the nearest vehicle and his arm was twisted behind his back, the gun no longer in his hand.
"Look," she started, and he had the decency to wonder where, in her small body, she stored all the strength she was currently demonstrating. "I know you guys want to play, and I understand that. But you don't know me. You don't know what I'm capable of. So, I'm going to be a lady and warn you to stay away."
Suddenly, the pressure on his back was gone and his mobility was back as soon as it had been taken. Turning around, he wasn't surprised to see her walking away. With a smirk on his features, he leaned against the car to rub at his sore wrists.
He shook his head as he bent down to retrieve his weapon from the ground.
"The guys weren't lying," he said to himself. "You really are something else, Kyoyama."
–
–
–
"You're putting her in danger, Yoh."
The statement caught him by surprise, so much that his head snapped up to look at the person who had spoken. Ren was standing in front of him, with his back to the kitchen table, looking straight into his eyes – and there was no doubt that it was him who he was addressing.
With a mild furrow between his brows, Yoh turned his attention back to the cat in his arms.
"Anna will want to be there," he said. "And I can't stop her from coming."
"That was not my point," Ren insisted.
The brunet looked at him, confused.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned back against the table and heaved a sigh. "I'm not sure that showing everybody that she's your girlfriend – or fiancée, whatever you prefer calling her – will help your case any."
Yoh's frown deepened. "What do you mean?" he asked. "They don't have the guts to approach me. You know that."
"I do know," he agreed. "And I'm sure no one will dare to touch her while she's with you. But what about when she isn't? What about when she's alone? Don't you think they'll attempt to hurt you – emotionally, if they can't physically? Don't you think they'll exploit any weaknesses they might find?"
"Look, Ren…" Sighing, he bent down so that he could place the kitten on the floor. He understood what his best friend was saying and it made all the sense in the world, but he was tired and had no mind to consider it; not when the solution was already there and so simple. "You and I both know this. If anyone does as much as think about laying one finger on Anna… I'm going to kill them. And that's that."
He seemed surprised as his eyebrows shot up. "So, you would turn into a murderer for her?"
Yoh huffed an amused breath and shook his head. "Of course I would."
–
–
–
Cars were lined up against the sidewalk when Yoh pulled up in an empty parking space outside the cemetery that evening.
Anna was surprised by the sheer number of people attending the funeral. She had never imagined Silva to be appreciated by so many persons, and in moments such as these, she was reminded by how little she actually knew – by how much she had yet to learn if she wanted to survive.
She ignored the incident she had stumbled her way into the other day; it was hardly even a conscious decision on her part, since it barely crossed her mind once. In a way, it was reassuring to know that something finally happened – something tangible, something other than the turmoil in her head, the questions that piled up high and the answers she didn't have. Something happened. And that meant she had what to analyze and where to gather information from. It was a good sign – that life finally went on after it had stalled. As long as life gave her something to work with, she would find a way to handle the situation.
"I'm sorry," she heard Yoh tell her as she slipped out of the car. He was waiting for her outside, hands in his pockets.
Anna frowned. "For what?" she asked, moving around her side of the car to approach him.
His answer was so surprising her head snapped up to look at him. "Everything." Grasping her hands, he coaxed her even closer. "I don't think you'll ever understand how important you are to me, how much I depend on you. You're everything to me, Anna. Everything. And that night, I –"
"Shh," she murmured, placing a finger over his lips, blue eyes warm and reassuring. "I know perfectly well what happened that night. I may not be the most understanding woman on Earth, but I am aware of the fact that I also say things I don't mean when I'm angry." Pausing for a moment, she rolled her eyes. "Well, I say things I don't mean most of the time. I know how it feels like. And I understand."
Yoh closed his eyes. "There's no justification for how I treated you, Anna. I –"
"Shut up," she said, but despite the nature of her words, her tone wasn't harsh or condescending. It was soft and gentle, and she seemed more exasperated than upset. "You're probably the only idiot in the world who would worry about that in a situation like this. Now, your charade is admirable and would work perfectly if I was mad at you. But I'm not. Forget about it, alright?"
Heaving a sigh, Yoh closed the distance between them and tugged her into his arms, closing his eyes when he felt her return his embrace, her small arms wrapping around his waist.
"Keep your energy for when you piss me off again," she advised, voice slightly muffled by the material of his black shirt.
He huffed an amused breath. Burying his face into her hair, he held her tight against him.
There was no one like Anna to soothe the ache in his heart, because he knew that, as long as he had her, everything would be alright.
–
–
–
She stood by his side throughout the entire ceremony, holding his hand, sharing her warmth, allowing him to lean on her.
Yoh had never been more thankful for her presence.
All the people he knew and all the people that were his friends, and she was the only one who managed to ground him, managed to make him feel that he could truly continue living after something like this. She gave him a reason to stand back up even at this point, even at this stage when the situation already seemed too much to handle and threatened to swell up and swallow him whole. And that reason was her. It had always been her.
As the service finished and the mass of people slowly began to disperse, Yoh had every intention of loitering behind. As unhealthy as it might be considered, he wanted some time alone before the grave of the man that had been like a father to him for such a long time.
Anna, however, seemed reluctant to indulge him. Tugging on his hand, she took a step back. His brown eyes unglued from the carved gravestone and slid to meet her startling blue ones.
"Come on," she whispered, gently coaxing. "Let's go. It's getting cold."
Yoh opened his mouth to speak, but seemed to hesitate.
"I'm not leaving without you," she told him.
For a moment, he was conflicted. There was a part of him that screamed that he wanted to remain there, that he needed the closure – or whatever it was that he was hoping to achieve – but there was another part of him that whispered that what he truly wanted was to give in and bury himself into her arms and simply forget about everything and everyone if only for an evening. She was all he needed.
So, he let himself be pulled along. Anna knew him better than he knew himself, he then remembered. She knew what was good for him and what was not. And perhaps even more importantly, he could trust her. It might seem as though Yoh was foolish enough to put his heart on the line for every single person he encountered in his way – many had said that would be his downfall – but in reality, the only person he knew he could address when everything became too much for him was Anna; she was the only one who he trusted to be able to pull him up when he fell down. That was one of the many reasons why she was indispensable to him.
"Get in the car," he murmured, placing a hand protectively over her lower back. "I need to have a word with Goldva. I'll be right there, alright?"
Any other time, she would have been curious, and the blonde was surprised to see that this was not the case. Giving him an accepting nod, she moved on to where she knew they had parked the car. Leaning against the hood, she wrapped her arms around herself and crossed her legs at the ankles, blonde hair obscuring her face as she gazed down. The truth was that she was completely sapped of energy; seeing her usually cheerful fiancée the way he was now and knowing how much this situation affected him had left her exhausted.
"What are you doing here?" a familiar voice interrupted her thoughts, and her blue eyes rose to meet golden ones.
A sarcastic reply was on the tip of her tongue, but in the end, she simply raised a challenging eyebrow in response. "Yoh needs me right now," she said. She had not missed Ren's disapproving looks throughout the day. "And I will stay by his side."
"And if Yoh told you to get inside the car, what are you doing outside of it?" he retorted.
Throwing him an exasperated look, she rolled her eyes and straightened, moving around the sleek vehicle to slip inside. She supposed she could have become violent, but this was neither the place nor the time.
On his part, Ren remained in his position for a couple of seconds more, contemplating what exactly it was about this girl that made him feel like he had to protect her – and what exactly it was about her that seemed to familiar.
–
–
–
Christopher had barely managed to turn around and take a step forward before he was assaulted by what some would also call his best friend.
"Did you see her?" he demanded, and his eyebrows drew together in a confused furrow.
Sometimes, he wondered what it was that bound them together, because it should be illegal to be that enthusiastic at a funeral and Chris knew that all too well. But then he remembered everything they had been through since they were children, and he realized that neither of them was at a stage where they could question their friendship – or choose it, for that matter.
"See who?" he asked.
Brian rolled his brows eyes. "Anna, duh!" he scoffed.
Chris' frown deepened. "What Anna?"
"Yoh's girlfriend, for God's sake!" he exclaimed in what he probably thought to be a hushed tone, looking at him as though he was crazy for not having searched for her.
Huffing an amused breath once he realized exactly what this was about, he shook his head. "Sorry, I don't look after girls at funerals," he said.
"Dude, me neither," he claimed, and Chris resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "But there's no way I could have missed her. Just let me tell you this: we all laughed at him when he kept rejecting girls in the tournament, but this guy isn't stupid at all! With the girl he had waiting back home…"
The blond once again shook his head in amusement. He supposed any other time he would have been more curious and intrigued, but as he heaved a sigh and stretched his muscles as discreetly as possible, he realized that he was too tired to manage more interest.
His friend, on the other hand, ploughed on, "Hear me out: she's got the longest legs I've ever seen. And her hair is –"
"I take it you two are talking about Silva?"
They both stiffened at the sound of the familiar voice.
Brian paled as he quickly stammered out a response, tripping over his words, "Sir… Yes, Sir."
Chris wasn't sure his friend could see the hint of amusement in his father's expression, but on his part, he had already relaxed the moment he realized that, even if he had been mad, he wouldn't have directed it at him.
"Come on, Chris," he said as he moved past him.
The blond took a moment to bury his hands into his pockets before following his father, fighting back a yawn in the process.
–
–
–
True to his word, Yoh slipped inside the car mere minutes after his fiancée had. The blonde offered to drive, but he simply smiled subtly and declined, which made her roll her eyes and punch him playfully in the shoulder. But they never did talk as the car purred into life and blended smoothly in the late-afternoon Tokyo traffic. Anna would have said something if she had known there was anything that could possibly make him feel better; but since there wasn't, she remained silent.
As the car came to a stop in front of a traffic light, Yoh leaned back in his seat and ran a hand through his hair, sighing tiredly.
She reached out to touch his arm, her eyes holding the question she wouldn't say.
"I'll be fine," he answered, squeezing her hand, before releasing it as the light changed back to green.
Everybody was in the living room when they entered the house, but the brunet declined her invitation of joining them. Anna had thought he would need his friends in moments like these, but all he did was take her hand and lead her upstairs to his room. She followed wordlessly, kicking off her shoes and curling up into his chest when he sat down on the bed.
"You have no idea how thankful I am that you're here with me," he murmured, lips pressed against her hair, arms wrapped tightly around her middle. "Your presence sooths me so much it's almost ridiculous."
Anna kissed the side of his neck in response. "…They will pay for what they have done," she said.
"…They will," he answered, a small smile curling at the corners of his lips. She was amazing – that was the word for her. "Promise me something."
The blonde looked up at him then, a questioning look in her eyes.
"Promise me you'll never take this off."
His hand was holding her left one, where her ring resided, fingers intertwined, and she realized exactly what he was talking about. Perhaps more importantly, she understood what he was telling her. He was asking her to keep the ring he had given her on, because according to their previous conversation, he believed it might keep them away from her, believed it might guarantee her safety. If only he knew they were after her, in the first place.
She would tell him, she resolved. She would tell him as soon as possible – but first things first.
"I promise."
They fell asleep together, without another word.
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When Yoh woke up the following morning, the sky was dark, and the pitter-patter of rain could be heard steadily outside the warm confines of his bedroom. Anna was nestled beside him, her back to him, head resting on his bicep. Her long, blonde hair was scattered on the pillow and on his chest, over her shoulders and over his arm.
Shifting on his side to hug her around the waist, Yoh brought her closer, burying his face into the crook of her neck and inhaling her fresh perfume. Her body was firm and warm and breathing against him, but she was so small, and seemed so fragile… Anna knew how to defend herself, there was no question about that, but one moment of carelessness, and it would be so easy to curb her life… And then what? What would he do without her?
Anna was not simply his fiancée. She was not simply the woman he loved. Anna was everything. She was the one person to have always been there for him. She was the first to truly understand him. She had been the one to silently support him in everything he did, to trust him like no one had ever done before, and help him as though her only purpose in life was to see him succeed.
They had been apart, they had dealt with their own fair share of experiences without each other; they could be apart – they knew how that worked. But if someone were to take her away from him, if someone were to hurt her… Yoh didn't know what he would do.
Horrified, he realized that he had never given this matter enough thought. For him, she had always been there – like a pillar of strength, of unbreakable stubbornness, of reassurance. For him, she would never leave. They had both been through hard times in their lives; they had bled and they had hurt. But it was never until now that he realized what it felt like to lose an important person to him. He had struggled so hard to have people accept him, to make friends, and having one ripped away form him so unexpectedly was more painful than anything he had ever experienced – than anything he could have ever imagined. And now, when he was face-to-face with the prospect of losing Anna…
His eyes opened, and his gaze fell on her left hand, where the ring he had given her glittered in the dim light.
He was nothing without her. He didn't want to be something without her. He needed to protect her. There was nothing in this world that was more important to him than that.
Unconsciously, his grip on her tightened, and he squeezed his eyes shut. There was no way he could survive losing her. No way, no way.
A soft touch to his arm snapped him out of his thoughts. His grip lightened, but only slightly. Anna turned her head to kiss the side of his neck lightly, and he closed his eyes again, the worries receding at the small gesture. Loosening his embrace almost completely, he allowed her to turn around in his arms and bury her face into the crook of his neck. Here, in his room, in his bed, within his arms… she was safe. And she seemed to know that just as well as he did.
As usual, with Anna, there were no questions, no prodding, no misunderstandings. She knew perfectly well what he was feeling, what he was thinking, and she acted accordingly. Her mind and body were completely tuned in with his, and in moments like these, it was as though they were one.
He had no way of knowing how long they lied there, in each other's arms, listening to the soft sound of rain hitting the rooftops, the windows, and the muddy ground beneath them. Her presence relaxed him, made everything and everyone around them disappear, and feeling her back moving up and down rhythmically with each breath she took beneath his arm reassured him of the fact that she was there, that she was safe, that he could – and would – protect her from anything and anyone.
Trailing one hand up her spine to bury his fingers in the wavy hair at the nape of her neck, he swallowed.
"You had something to tell me?" he prompted softly, his voice a mere whisper muffled against her hair.
For a fraction of second, her body tensed against him. Then, just as quickly, she relaxed, and breathed out a puff of air against the skin of his neck. She hesitated in giving him an answer, her hand curling lightly against the fabric of his shirt.
"No," she eventually answered, her voice just as quiet and as soft as his own had been. "It was nothing important. It can wait."
His hand covered hers on his chest, their fingers intertwining. "It doesn't have to," he told her.
Anna swallowed hard before speaking, attempting to keep her voice as even as possible. "I want it to."
Because Yoh loved her more than anything in the world, and he was clinging to her in such a desperate manner… How could she tell him she wasn't safe now? How could she tell him he couldn't protect her? She could not. That was the answer.
"Tomorrow?" he proposed.
She nodded, relieved, against him. "Tomorrow," she agreed.
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A/N: The plot is building up, yay! I am a bit late with the update, but I think I did good. I'm trying my hand at a new writing schedule, which is weird, but it seems to be working – for now. The real test will be when school starts (in a week, gahh).
The second scene that gave me trouble was the one with Anna and 'the stranger'. It took me quite a while to figure out how she would react in such a situation. I eventually came to the conclusion that her pride would stop her from feeling scared, that she would be more annoyed than anything else with someone trying to threaten her, and that her worry for Yoh would stop her from actually considering the situation as seriously as she should.
More action coming soon!
Please review! :)