"YEAH! EVERYONE WAKE UP, IT'S CHRISSSTMAAASS!"

Everyone woke up to HoroHoro's shouts but were too exited to get made. Well, all but Ren.

"Kisama, do you have to be so loud," he grumbled.

"Come on Ren, it's Christmas cheer up for once." Chocolove told him. When they came back to Izumo Chocolove was there with Manta. (A/N: somehow in the story I forgot about Manta, oops. Let's jut say he moved to America XD)

"Shut up, and what are you doing here anyway, I thought you were in America." Ren sat down beside Yoh who still looked half asleep while HoroHoro and Pirika dug through the presents.

"Yeah but the trip got cut short my uncle came out of the closet," Chocolove shrugged.

"Huh? Your parents have a problem that he's gay?" Manta asked him.

"No, my mom was mad that he came out of the closet wearing her purple business suit." Chocolove stood, laughing.

'Great another joke…' Manta thought.

Yoh laughed before getting hit in the head with a box.

"Here dude, it's for you." HoroHoro said. "Huh, even Tao Scrooge got a few…WHAT THE HELL?"

"What's wrong?" Pirika asked him.

"Hao has like, twenty presents from the girls at school…EVEN DAMUKO SENT HIM ONE?" HoroHoro started crying.

"Um, whose Damuko?" Tamao came in carrying a tray of hot chocolate for everyone.

"A girl he's was thinking about asking out," Pirika sighed.

"oh."

"What's with all the shouting?" Hao walked in, yawning.

"DAMN YOU HAO!" HoroHoro tried tackling him but Yoh and Pirika held him back.

"Onii-Chan, calm down, it's Christmas-"

"YOH I'M GOING TO KILL YOU BROTHER-"

"HoroHoro-"

Hao, watching all this, just smiled innocently and took some hot chocolate from Tamao.

The rest on the morning went by peacefully…more or less. HoroHoro kept muttering stuff under his breath and shooting glares at Hao until Pirika shoved a present at him.

"Here, now stop sulking," she said.

HoroHoro opened it and held up a wooden stick that had carvings in it.

"Whoa, an Ikupasuy," He said. "Thanks sis" Then added, "But you know, you kinda bad at these things."

"Onii-Chan!"

"What's an Ikupasuy?" Manta asked.

"It's a prayer stick from a village." Pirika explained. "It only works if someone who cares about you makes it."

"Oh wow, that's sweet," Tamao said shyly. The phone rang and Hao went to answer it.

"Here Ren, it's from Jun," Yoh handed him a small box. It was a small circular object that had the Yin-Yang symbol on it. There was a note that said,

I convinced Father to let you have it. It's one of the Heirlooms of the Tao Family. You'll get the other one on your wedding day.

Merry Christmas, can't wait to see my baby brother

Love Jun

"So what is it?" Yoh asked, peeking over his friends shoulder to look.

"Mind your business you!" Ren said, stuffing heirloom in his pocket.

Yoh laughed as Hao came back into the room.

"Get your coat Otouto, that was the store. Your order is in," he said, catching everyone's attention.

"Order? But we're not in court," Chocolove said making Ren and HoroHoro punch him.

"that's wasn't even close to being funny," HoroHoro said, annoyed.

"Next time you feel like being funny, hold it in!" Ren glared at him.

Chocolove's eyes widened. "Hold it in? but when you gotta go you gotta go-"

"THAT DOES IT!"

"Heh, Heh, we'll be back soon," Yoh told Manta as Tamao and Pirika tried to stop the Tao and Usui from killing the horrible comedian.

"Please," Manta begged.

xXxXxXx

"Hey Onii-Chan?"

"Huh?"

"What do you think of Anna?" Pirika asked her brother. She gave up trying to stop him from killing Chocolove and was watching him bury the poor guy in the snow out back.

"She's…uh, scary," HoroHoro muttered.

"How is she at school?" Pirika asked, confused.

"Scary. Threatens people a lot." HoroHoro paused. "She doesn't really talk to people, I've only seen her talk to Yoh and Hao."

"You know, I think her and Jeanne would get along," Chocolove suddenly stood, shaking all the snow off. Pirika jumped and Tamao gave a small shriek, both startled that he was finally conscious after the beating he got.

"Iron Maiden Jeanne? You mean Ren's partner in class for that report?" HoroHoro said sceptically.

"Why is she called Iron Maiden?" Tamao asked.

"Because she's exactly like one," HoroHoro shuddered. "You know how they look plain and innocent on the outside, but are deadly inside? That's her."

For some reason knowing that he had a girl as a partner bothered Pirika but she brushed it off.

Ren was inside, sitting on the couch while looking at the gift his sister sent him. True, he's never gotten along with his family but he had a soft spot for Jun and she liked to take advantage of it since he couldn't say no to her. Ever. He had a feeling she sent this hoping he would try to make amends with their father. Suddenly he felt guilty for not keeping his promise to call her like he said he would.

"You shouldn't avoid your problems."

He didn't jump like some else would. He had a feeling he was being watched.

"Says the girl that has been avoiding her Fiancé for the last three days." Ren said calmly, putting the object back in his pocket.

"I have my reasons," she muttered under her breath. Ren stood and walked out of the room, pausing beside her.

"You know, he may be annoying but his heart is in the right place. I can tell he cares about you even though I don't understand it."

Anna didn't say anything as he walked past her.

"You think she'll like it Nii-Chan?" Yoh asked nervously.

"Who knows with Anna," Hao shrugged. "Calm down, will you? I haven't seen you this jumpy since we first started school."

"Sorry," Yoh muttered, looking down.

Hao sighed, knowing he wasn't just apologising for being overly nervous. "No, I am, I shouldn't have brought it up. Let's hurry, I don't want to come home to a crime scene and Chocolove being the victim and Ren and HoroHoro M.I.A."

Yoh couldn't help but laugh.

Now he was standing in front her bedroom door, hand in mid air about to knock but something was holding him back. After taking a few deep breaths, he knocked.

There was no answer and he wondered if she was taking a nap when finally the door opened a crack she he could only see half of her face.

"Nani?"

"Um…" great, now he was tongue tied.

"well?" she sounded impatient. Yoh suddenly wished she would just take pity on him and read his mind.

"Do you…will you, um…"

"Get on with it or I'm shouting this door." when he didn't say anything she started to shut the door but he caught it and opened it all the way, visibly startling her.

"Willyougoonawalkwithme!" he blurted in one, quick breath.

She blinked slowly at him. "Excuse me?"

"Will you go on a walk with me," he repeated slowly, his face going redder then red. She didn't say anything for at first. Finally she muttered, "I'll be down in a minute."

Smiling, Yoh gave her a quick hug and ran downstairs before she could slap him.

They walked silently down a path that lead to an old school Yoh used to go to. It was just outside town so Anna wouldn't be bothered a bunch of thoughts. Neither said anything, but there was an unspoken question between them.

Yoh knew her past now, and she had trouble hearing his thoughts but both were thinking the same thing.

What now?

Yoh didn't know what to say to her. He just knew that he wanted her to be happy and have the easy life she never knew.

"I told you it's impossible," Anna stopped walking.

"No it's not," Yoh sighed.

"Really?" Anna snapped, glaring at him. "Then tell me, if it's so easy to live in peace, if "Everything works out" like you say it does, why was I abandoned and almost killed by my own parents? Why was I abused by the people who adopted me for four years?" she paused trying to calm down.

Yoh was silent for awhile. He just looked off into the distance before saying,

"Everyone wonders why I'm the Heir to the Asakura Family, when Hao is older then me. The truth is that it's my fault…

When we first started school no one really liked us since they knew our family could see spirits. They used to pick on me because for some reason Nii-Chan scared them. They only left me alone because he would stand up for me. But as his Reishi got worse, he would lash out at school and get in trouble a lot. So finally Jii-Chan decided to home school him. I begged him to let me stay home too, mostly because I wasn't used to going anywhere without Hao but Jii-Chan wouldn't hear it."

"And because Hao stopped going they started picking on you again," Anna said quietly. Yoh nodded.

"Yeah. I avoided trying to tell him, I even learned how to block some of my thoughts from him but that only made him suspicious. I didn't want him to know because if he did he would get into a fight and in trouble again. But then…a year before we moved to Funbari, a group of guys jumped me, started beating on me. Their leader, Shintaru, was about to finish me and Hao showed up…

Yoh was lying on the ground, gasping for breath as he was kicked in the stomach for the third time.

"Freak, your families just a bunch of freaks Asakura!"

Yoh yelped in pain as he was kicked again. And again. And again.

"Just finish him Shintaru, I wanna grab something eat," one of his friend said.

"Yeah, hurry up."

Yoh closed his eyes waiting for the fatal blow. but it never came. He heard them gasp and opened his eyes.

"N-Nii-Chan!"

Hao stood in front of him, holding on to Shintaru's wrist. He had a deadly expression on his face as his long hair whipped around him in the wind.

"You've got guts attacking my brother like this," he said coldly. Shintaru's eyes widened in fear.

"Ha-Hao…" Hao twisted his arm behind his back until you heard it small crack. He let out a scream of agony.

"Nii-Chan STOP IT!" Yoh yelled. Hao blinked, looking confused for a second before letting go.

Sobbing, Shintaru ran away, holding his arm.

Sighing, Hao kneeled down in front of his little brother, who had tears running down his face.

"Your bleeding," he said, wiping blood off his cheek with his sleeve. Yoh didn't say anything. He was shaking slightly.

"Nii-Chan…promised not to…do that anymore," he said quietly. Hao sighed and helped him up, putting his arm over his shoulder to help him walk.

"Let's get you home Otouto," he said just as quietly.

When they got there Hao made sure Yoh had his cuts looked after.

"Nii-Chan, I'm fine," he said. Though Hao didn't show it much, he cared and worried deeply for his younger twin. "How'd you know where I was anyway?"

The look Hao gave him made him feel stupid.

"Right, forgot," He muttered.

"Yohmei and Mikihisa and Kaa-San were getting worried when you were late," Hao explained. "So I went looking for you. Since I'm used to your thoughts it was easy."

"I wish you would call them Jii-Chan and Tou-San," Yoh said quietly.

"You know I can't do that," Hao said. "I feel nothing towards them, or Kino."

'but their your family just like me and Kaa-San' Yoh thought.

Hao went to say something but was interrupted.

"HAO!" both twins flinched at their grandfathers yell.

Hao smiled reassuring at Yoh before running his hand through his hair, messing it up. "I'll be back, lay down I can tell your tired."

"Nii-Chan," Yoh protested but he left his room.

"I don't know what was said," Yoh sighed. "But when Nii-Chan came back he seemed upset. And annoyed. I asked him what happened and he just shrugged and said he gave up is title as Heir and that Jii-Chan kicked him out. So when he moved out to Funbari I came too."

Anna didn't say anything. She didn't get the point of him saying all this to her. He realised this and said quietly, "What I'm saying even if things get bad it'll work out. No matter what. After we moved, Hao seemed to get better. And when we became friends with the others, his Reishi got better, it doesn't hurt him as much anymore. I know why you hate humans so much now, and I don't blame you. I just want you to be happy, and…" her voice trailed off as his face went red. "Um, here." he pulled a small package and handed it to her.

Confused and shocked that he actually got her something, she opened it. Her eyes widened at the red fabric. She ran her fingers over the fabric, feeling how soft it was.

"I, um, asked Matamune what your favourite colour was and he said surprisingly it-it was red," Yoh said nervously.

"Yoh, I-" Anna blinked, feeling the corner of her eyes sting.

"I don't hate you Anna, and I'm not afraid of you," Yoh took her hand gently. "I want to help you trust others, and I know you want to be able to also."

Anna didn't say anything. She was in shock. She had never…ever been given a gift before. Never had someone wanting to help her. She was afraid of trust…afraid of getting hurt…and yet…

Yoh waited for her reaction when she stood and took and few steps forward, holding her gift close to her.

"Arigato gozaimasu, Yoh," she said, just loud enough for him to hear before running back in the direction of the Asakura mansion.

I hate writers block, gives me such a headache because I want to update but I can't come up with anything, and then my readers get annoyed that I haven't updated…oh well, what matters I that I did.

R&R and I have a poll up in my profile about what story I should do after this one, I have some ideas but I want to know which one you want to read.