I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands.

I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving.I also apologize for any grammatical errors that I did not pick up on.

Summary: How the Red Clan copes with a growing Anna.

GROWING PAINS

by chickypeg

Chapter 25: King and Princess

When Anna opened her eyes, she found herself curled up against Mikoto's back. It was normal for him to roll away to his side, even if he fell asleep cuddling her. She would usually remain on her side of the bed and sleep on peacefully. However, this was the first time she had followed after him and snuggled against his back.

It was quite a broad back too, and very warm. Anna still had not gotten used to the cold in Seneca so lying next to Mikoto was nice and toasty to her whenever she thought of the freezing weather she sometimes experienced in the mountains. She wanted to bury her face between his shoulder blades and remain like that a little longer, but she knew that she had to get up. The others were probably waiting to see her.

So, she slowly sat up until she was kneeling at Mikoto's side. His chest area had that healthy, beautiful red that she loved and she wished so badly that she could thread her fingers through his lovely rouge hair too...but she would disturb him, so she didn't.

She moved to go but Mikoto turned onto his back and opened his eyes. He glanced at her.

"Sing," he ordered her.

She was confused for a moment, then she remembered that he had wanted her to sing the song she had given to him for his birthday. So, softly she sang the words like a lullaby; her own personal message to him that lulled him back into a peaceful sleep.

"Oi, be quiet!" Yata snapped at Bando who was yapping away with Kamamoto and Shouhei. He felt as though he was hearing a soothing, sweet voice.

"What's the matter?" Bando asked.

Yata grabbed him by the collar. "I said be quiet! Don't you hear that?!" he snarled.

"To be fair, Yata-chan, no one can with you shouting," Izumo stated from behind the counter at the bar. Everyone had eventually gathered together at the bar, in anticipation of Anna's return. They had been delighted to know that she was back early, but disappointed that she was asleep.

"Wait, someone's singing," Dewa commented and glanced at the ceiling. Izumo listened hard. It was difficult to make out the words, but he caught one of two of them.

'I will sing a song for the sake of the life we have weaved together' was a line he recognized and he smiled upon recognizing that it was Anna's song to Mikoto. He had happened upon the paper with the lyrics one day and Mikoto had finally explained to him that that was his birthday gift from the little girl.

"Hey, what's this?" Izumo asked when he picked up a piece of paper from Mikoto's desk.

Mikoto who was sitting in his armchair finally decided that he would let Izumo see Anna's birthday gift to him. Izumo opened it and read it.

"Anna wrote this?" he asked.

"Yeah. Tatara helped her," Mikoto replied.

Izumo nodded and folded the paper, laying it carefully back where he had found it. It truly was a lovely song and Izumo wondered if Mikoto had actually grasped how much Anna clung to him and how much he truly meant to her. The lyrics probably said it, but that did not mean that Mikoto completely understood it, even if the words were clearly stated right in front of him.

Mikoto was what one could describe as pretty dense when it came to women and Izumo suspected that Anna might have a hard time with him when she got older.

Despite this, perhaps on some level, Mikoto did grasp the true depth of the words of her song because it seemed that he read it quite often, considering the state that the paper was in it.

Izumo smiled softly. Anna's song was gentle and soothing, and perfect for calming the beast in Mikoto.

The room was darkened, but there was enough light to make it dimly lit. Anna was gently stroking Mikoto's red hair as she ended her song. Mikoto was flat on his back with his head cushioned on his pillow. He seemed to have fallen asleep again.

Anna lowered her head and gently kissed his cheek with her hair curtaining around her and creating white pools around Mikoto's head.

She was home, where she belonged. Although it was only for two days, she would treasure these moments she had Mikoto, and the others who she loved so much.

Anna showered and pulled on her old outfit of a red black ruffled dress and her favorite hat. It felt so good to be back in her favorite clothes! She pulled on her white stockings and shoes and went downstairs to greet everyone. Before she opened the door, she heard Izumo quarreling with Yata.

"Do you want to keep living from paycheck to paycheck, Yata-chan? Think of your mother! You have the opportunity to go to college, you should just take it and stop trying to quit!"

"I'll do online courses! Isn't that what you and Mikoto-san did?"

"You said that since last month when you withdrew. Do something with yourself!"

It seemed as though Yata hated school too much although he had been pressed by Izumo to continue his education so that he would not have to scrape for cash every month. Of course Izumo took very good care of his clansmen, but he by no means spoiled them. Except for Anna and Mikoto because Mikoto was the King and Anna he had adopted. Even so, he did things for them that was in their best interests even if it meant making them do something they did not like (such as Anna going to Seneca).

"I will! I will!" Yata assured him.

When Anna opened the door, the first person she saw was Kamamoto, who was munching on some yummy pastries. He had put on weight again and his stomach looked like the size of a huge, inflated beach ball.

His mouth was stuffed when his eyes fell on her. Quickly, he swallowed his food, wiped his mouth with the sleeve of the back of his arm and hurried over to her.

"Anna! Look at you!" he said and caught her by the waist, lifting her off the ground and swirling her around.

Shohei and Bando came next.

"Anna! You look so pretty!" Shohei told her and hugged her.

Bando embraced her next. When he drew back, he frowned. "Anna, you feel a little thin," he commented.

Yata, who had come up beside him, whacked Bando on his head.

"What was that for?" Bando demanded.

"You pervert! You're really paying close attention to a little girl's body, aren't you?!"

"But she really does seem thin! Her clothes are loose! Look!" Bando snapped and tugged at the midsection of Anna's dress, revealing that there was some space at her stomach which used to fit perfectly before.

"Yata-chan just doesn't know how to greet Anna-chan," Shohei laughed.

"And look at where you're touching her!" Yata added and shoved Bando's hand away. He caught Anna by the shoulders and pulled her away from them. "Touching a girl's body like that is bad for her upbringing!"

"Bando-san wasn't the one who flashed Anna when she was seven," Kamamoto commented as he attacked another pastry.

Yata was at a loss for words. "What are you talking about?" Shohei asked.

"That was before you joined and Anna had just met us. She walked in on-"

"No! Don't say it!" Yata exclaimed and ran to cover Kamamoto's mouth.

Anna turned away from them when Dewa came to greet her next, followed by Eric. Eric looked very handsome and well dressed in jeans and a blue shirt. He was neat, well dressed and somewhat humble looking in appearance. It was a far cry from what he had been when he had first come to Homra, all beaten, bruised and starved.

"You miss here a lot, don't you?" he asked her as they sat on the couch.

She nodded.

Izumo came over to them and placed a platter in front of her, piled high with sandwiches. "Eat. You look healthier, but you're still too thin,"

"And her dress is too short," Yata added as he snatched a sandwich.

"How did you notice that?" Chitose asked as he came to get sandwiches for himself and Maria.

Yata blushed lightly.

Izumo grabbed him by the top of his head. "Where were you looking, Yata-chan?" he asked dangerously.

Yata looked confused for a moment by his words, then it dawned on him that Izumo thought that he had been eying Anna's legs. He blushed and gasped in mortification.

Squirming in Izumo's hold, he defended himself, "I did not look at her anywhere strange! She just grew taller so I assumed that her dress is shorter! And it is, isn't it?!"

Izumo let Yata go and turned to Anna. "It seems as though Yata-chan is upset that you're getting as tall as him,"

Anna glanced at her clansman. She blinked at him. Yes, Yata was rather short for a guy. Izumo gave her an assessing look.

"But you are getting taller. You need to get new clothes. Perhaps you should go shopping tomorrow,"

However Anna shook her head at him. "I can go shopping with Natsume-san during the week," she told him. She did not want to waste any time shopping when she could be at home with everyone, and with Mikoto.

"Ah, I see. Well, eat something then. I want to fatten you a little before you go back to Seneca," Izumo told her.

"Just don't let her get like that fatty over there," Yata said, and jabbed his thumb in Kamamoto's direction. The blonde was already pigging out the rest of pastries. Anna had missed Kamamoto quite a bit. Skinny or fat, he was always very warm and welcoming to her and he had taken a great deal of care for her both before and after Tatara had died.

Yata leaned down and whispered to her, "Hey Anna, I got a new Pucca DVD. Want to watch it later?" he asked her.

She turned to him and nodded. Yata's face brightened up.

Dewa handed Anna a sandwich, seeing as she had not taken any yet and she bit into it. Izumo decided to take a break from manning the bar and let Kamamoto take over. He sat himself in the seat Eric had recently vacated and frowned when he saw that Anna had left out all the crust of her sandwich and had eaten nothing else. It lay on a napkin on her lap.

Mikoto came in, seemingly having just awakened.

"You look better than I've seen you in quite a while. Perhaps a little angel sang a lullaby to you," Izumo told his friend.

Mikoto merely shot him a dark look and sat between Anna and Izumo. He glanced at Anna. "Eat something else," he told her.

"I'm not hungry anymore," she said.

Mikoto frowned. Then he sighed and reclined his head back against the couch. "Well, you're the one who will have to quit your aikido if your anemia worsens,"

That seemed to have struck a chord in Anna for she took another sandwich and began eating.

"I'm making omurice tonight, if you're interested," Izumo told her.

She perked up a little at that. She hadn't had any decent omurice since leaving for Seneca. That was because Chef used too many rich ingredients; the finest of the fine and although it tasted good, nothing could beat the homeliness of Homra's omurice.

"Eat your crust," Mikoto added when he saw her tearing it and reluctantly, she did so. Izumo had her wash it all down with a glass of milk and she found herself becoming sleepy. Her cycle had only finished the day before and she had had not had as much sleep as she probably needed to recover from that, as well as the fatigue from her power overuse.

She unintentionally slipped into a deep sleep while her head leaned against Mikoto's arm.

"Perhaps we should move her," Eric said as he neared by to take another sandwich. Mikoto shook his head. Anna was fine where she was; she was at home with them, and that was enough.

"Cinderella's fairy godmother appeared again and changed her rags into a beautiful wedding gown and she went off to marry the prince! Isn't that a lovely story, Anna? Maybe one day you would find your own handsome prince!" Totsuka said to eight year old Anna who was sitting on his lap while he read the story of Cinderella to her.

She glanced up at him and blinked.

"Don't put strange ideas into her head," Mikoto grumbled as he lay down, half asleep on the opposite couch.

The young man and the little girl looked at him.

"Or maybe even a king," Totsuka chuckled, earning him a deep glare from Mikoto.

Anna, however said, "There was no fairy godmother,"

Izumo, in his usual position behind the bar commented, "It seems that even Anna doesn't believe in fairy tales,"

"One wicked stepsister got her toe cut off and the other one got her heel cut off..." Anna blinked, it seemed that she was wracking her brain, "and their eyes got picked out by birds."

Totsuka, Izumo and Mikoto were speechless. Even more so because Anna said it with a straight face.

"A-Anna, that's a bit disturbing. Where did you get such an idea?" Totsuka questioned.

"That's the real story,"

"The real story?" Mikoto repeated as he sat up on the couch, intrigued.

Anna nodded. She slid off from Totsuka's lap and walked up to Mikoto. She sat beside him on the couch and he listened to her tell the original story of Cinderella by the Grimm Brothers'. "There was a bird who lived in a the tree that Cinderella planted near her mother's grave. When Cinderella wanted to go to the ball, she would say a rhyme to get her dress,"

"Do you remember the rhyme?" Izumo asked as he listened in.

Anna's mouth seemed to tighten momentarily as if trying to remember. Then, it seemed as though she remembered for she said, "'Shake and shiver o little tree, throw rushes of gold and silver on me'"

"So the fairy godmother was really a bird?" Totsuka queried. Anna nodded. As she continued the story, Mikoto became sleepier and suddenly, his body slumped to the side and he was leaning on Anna.

"It seems that your voice put him to sleep," Totsuka laughed.

"Well, Anna's voice does have that sweet lullaby tone. C'mon, let's move you before this guy crushes you," Izumo stated and took Anna's hands in his to remove her from Mikoto's side.

Totsuka gathered her to his lap again and asked, "Where did you learn that story?"

"My aunt...she had a book,"

"And she read it to you?"

Anna shook her head.

"You read it yourself?" Totsuka questioned, rather surprised that a child so young could read so well already.

She nodded. Totsuka and Izumo shared a look. It seemed that Anna was quite a brilliant child. Totsuka hugged her to him and rest his chin on top of her head.

"Anna will grow up to be an amazing, beautiful person,"

"Do you miss him?" Anna questioned Mikoto when he opened the refrigerator to get something to drink. Mikoto glanced at her. She was standing on her chair, cutting up some mushrooms with Izumo. Izumo kept a keen eye on her because of the sharpness of the knife she was using. Her question had caught his attention too.

"Who?"

"Tatara," she replied.

Mikoto took out a bottle of cranberry juice and shut the refrigerator. He grunted, meaning 'yes'. Anna's eyes remained on the mushrooms she was carefully slicing up.

"Why do you ask?" Mikoto wanted to know a moment later because she had said nothing else.

Anna just shook her head.

Izumo lifted a hand and gently placed it on her head.

"Last year it was the four of us staying here, wasn't it?" Izumo was saying. "and Tatara was the one who would make omurice for you."

Anna paused her slicing and then nodded before continuing.

"You miss him a lot, huh?" Mikoto murmured as he passed behind her.

"I wonder what he would say if he was here?" Izumo pondered aloud. Then, with a sad but warm smile, he stated, "he would probably say that Anna is growing up to be a beautiful girl and that one day a prince would come into her life and when he saw you helping me cook, he would claim that you would make someone a wonderful wife,"

"That guy had a lot of flowery words," Mikoto muttered, seeming to be irritated.

Izumo glanced at his friend. "You're in a bad mood,"

Mikoto shrugged. "The two of you were always filling her head with idea of a prince. Those things don't exist,"

Izumo smiled quietly. "But kings do,"

Mikoto clicked his tongue in irritation. "I don't know what you're implying,"

"I wasn't implying anything,"

"Whatever," Mikoto muttered.

Anna calmly set down her knife. Very softly, she confided in Izumo, "I wish...I wish Tatara was here,"

Izumo gathered her in his arms and hugged her. She did not cry, and her expression hardly changed, but there was sadness in her eyes and the two men knew her long enough to recognize it. Mikoto observed her silently before taking a sip of his cranberry juice.

"How come you spend weekends here?" Akemi asked Kei when she happened to come across him wandering the school grounds. Kei grinned at her.

"My beautiful Akemi, such a pleasure it is to see you as always," he flirted.

She merely looked at him.

Kei shrugged and shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants. "My family is abroad. My brother is staying in the dorms at school so it's best I stick around here. I guess it's something like that for you too, huh?" He glanced her way, giving her a smile of understanding.

Akemi still had a deep liking for Kei, although she would never admit it. Perhaps it was because she suspected that Kei might have some feelings for Anna. When he smiled, he lit up the room and he seemed to be filled with warmth.

Yet, there was an aura around him that gave one the impression that he was somewhat of a sadist: he could be both cruel and kind. Once, she had chanced to ask Anna what about Kei reminded her of her dead brother and she had said that it was his smile, but his contrasting personality in that aspect of cruelty and kindness was something that set him very much apart from her Tatara. Anna would say nothing more on the matter. It seemed she was very clammed up when it came to relating things about her family. She understood; it was very painful to her.

Akemi did not really know her friend's feelings for Kei but she knew she had a soft spot for him, just as she (Anna) had a soft spot for her (Akemi) and Anna would not be a person to view Kei as a substitute for her deceased brother.

"Something like that," Akemi responded to his question. "My dad is abroad too and I don't have any other family in Japan that I'd really like to see."

Kei nodded, understanding. "It seems kind of lonely without Anna," Kei murmured as he noted the absence of their quiet friend.

"Yes, it is," Akemi agreed. They were sitting outside the grounds of the cathedral where they would normally have Sunday morning worship. As always, it was cold in the mountains and a strong wind blew, swirling Akemi's long blond hair around her.

Kei was momentarily surprised to see how beautiful the girl looked with golden girls and bright blue eyes. He had to admit, Akemi was very pretty. She and Anna were perhaps the most loveliest girls in the entire Middle School.

Kei liked both girls well enough, but there was something about Anna that made him very interested. Perhaps there was that air of mysteriousness she unwittingly had around her.

Mikoto and Izumo had been pleased to see that Anna had finished her omurice and asked for seconds. Everyone had already gone home, except Yata, but they would be back for breakfast the next morning. "Anna needs to get clothes," Mikoto said as he ate his food.

Izumo and Yata turned to him.

"Why do you say that?" Izumo questioned, recalling that that topic had been mentioned earlier.

"Her skirt is reaching too far up her legs now. Tell Kamamoto to take her shopping after breakfast tomorrow,"

"How come when I said that you wanted to half kill me?" Yata demanded of Izumo.

His question went unanswered, but the obvious reason was because Mikoto would not look at Anna in a strange way. Not that Yata would either, but Mikoto was the king and a lot more trustworthy.

"She said that Natsume would take her during the week," Izumo told him.

"Is that so?" Mikoto murmured. He seemed to recall how Tatara used to take Anna shopping all the time for new clothes and sometimes would spend out the money in the arcade or something or the other. Izumo would get annoyed, but upon seeing the pleased look in Anna's eyes from her outing, his anger would ease.

A couple of months had not been enough to forget Tatara, but Mikoto had been surprised by her abrupt change of mood today. While he excused it as probably 'puberty', or that the omurice had triggered off bittersweet memories, something kept niggling at him but he couldn't figure out what. It was like two weeks ago when he had been in Anna's hospital room and they were talking about Anna's friends. Mikoto couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Since he couldn't figure it out, he let the matter rest.

Anna curled close to Mikoto that night. She hadn't meant to let them see how sad she was today, she had wanted to be glad because she was at home. Of course she was glad, but she did not want her sadness to mar the time she spent with the people she loved so much. It just felt so strange to come home and not find Tatara there, even though he had died months ago.

Moreover, Kei's smile always triggered off memories of her deceased caretaker and yesterday he had looked so much like Tatara when he had laughed, that he had almost frightened Anna.

Sometimes she wondered if they were possibly related in some way since Tatara's birth parents had abandoned him, but she felt that it was unlikely. Her powers would have allowed her to sense it and there was nothing strange or abnormal about Kei. He was perfectly normal...well, as normal as Kei could get.

Many times she thought that she should abandon their friendship, but she couldn't find herself doing that; not only because she didn't have the heart to do it, but also because he had a personality that was too big to ignore.

"Hey, go to sleep," Mikoto muttered gruffly in the dark beside her. He was lying on his back and her head was on his arm.

Anna immediately closed her eyes despite the turmoil in her mind.

She heard Mikoto sigh wearily before he turned to his side and gently pulled her closer to him to cuddle against his lithe body.

"Are you thinking about Tatara?" he asked her.

She nodded and buried her face against his chest while her hands caught fistfuls of his shirt. "What are you thinking?"

She lifted her head slightly. In the dark, she could make out his fiery red hair and the outline of his face which was lightly gray. Against his chest, it was red, her favorite pretty red, where it was soothing and warm.

"What it would have been like...if he hadn't died,"

Mikoto was silent for a moment, as though unsure of what to say. Then, when he spoke, he admitted hesitantly, "I wonder the same thing too,"

Somehow, those words comforted her; to know that Mikoto was still hurting from his death and that it was alright that she felt this way.

Anna's small hand touched his hard bicep and slid to his elbow, then slowed at his wrist which her hand barely even covered half of. She then lifted his hand and fit her palm into his much larger one.

"Did my hand grow?" she asked him as she rolled onto her back and looked at their hands, trying to make out their sizes as best as she could in the dark.

"No,"

Mikoto sensed her disappointment and almost grinned. He didn't and let her snuggle against him again. His arm went around her once more, banding her to him.

"Go to sleep now," he murmured.

She nodded. Tomorrow she would wake up next to him, and the following day too...but Monday, Monday she would be in school again.

"Anna, do you need help with your hair?" Izumo asked as he stepped into her room Monday morning. It was six in the morning. A car would be here to pick her up soon so that she could reach Seneca in time.

Anna glanced up at him from tying a red ribbon into her hair to keep it in a nice, neat ponytail. Izumo grinned.

"So you finally learned to do your own hair,"

She nodded.

"Tell Mikoto goodbye before you leave,"

Anna nodded again. She grabbed her duffel bag and hurried to the door. She paused by him and hugged him abruptly. Izumo hugged her back.

"It was great to have you home, Anna. We'll see you again soon," he assured her.

Anna nodded against his sleeping shirt, then let him go. He took her bags from her. "Go to Mikoto, I'll take these to the car,"

She hastened to Mikoto's room where he was sleeping the same position as he had been when she had been awakened by Izumo earlier that morning. He was sleeping facing the spot she slept in because he had been hugging to her to him the entire night. Perhaps in some unconscious way, he was displaying how much he did not want her to go because when she tried to get out of bed, his arms only tightened around her like steel bands and she could barely move until Izumo intervened and managed to pull away one of his arms.

"You really are like the lion's favorite bone," Izumo had commented. Anna still did not like that comparison.

Now, she sat beside him in her school uniform and she wanted so much to just curl up beside him and sleep again. Of course she couldn't. She had school and she did like seeing Natsume's family, Kei and Akemi.

But she would miss Homra so much and she would definitely prefer to stay here, next to Mikoto, having him spoil her with his warmth and affection. She was too connected to everyone at Homra to want to stay away for too long no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that she could love Seneca just as much.

She hoped that one day, she would become stronger, and be able to protect herself so that no one could make the excuse that she needed to be protected and send her away. Hopefully by then she would not suffer with such horrible menstrual cycles. She was already maturing quickly physically as predicted based on the data Natsume had on her Type D personality. She only hoped that it was true that she would eventually menstruate normally within a few years' time.

Anna lay a hand on Mikoto's arm. "I'll miss you, Mikoto," she confessed softly. She leaned down to kiss his cheek before she left, however, he rolled onto his back and grabbed her arm. He pulled her to him and nuzzled at her temple. He paused and drew back, remembering that it would make her sleepy and probably mess up her hair.

"Be good," he said to her with a voice thick with sleepiness.

Anna nodded and he caught the side of her face in his hand. It seemed he was unable to help himself because he his nose began rubbing against her cheek.

"Mikoto, I have to leave," she informed him reluctantly.

She felt his warm breath on her cheek as he let out a sigh. He pressed a rough kiss there and drew back.

"Fine," He let her go and turned away.

Anna hesitated and leaned down to give him one last kiss on his cheek. She could sense how much he didn't want for her to leave and she knew that he felt how much she wanted to stay. But they would meet again...next weekend.

Mikoto felt when she got up and left through the door. It was going to be a long miserable five days without his princess.

"Anna! I missed you!" Kei cried when he saw her and reached out to grab her into a hug. However, Akemi was there before him and shoved him away in time.

"Leave her alone, you perve!" Akemi snarled and proceeded to hug Anna herself.

"No fair, Akemi!" Kei grumbled and tried to tug her away from his friend. "you had her all day long, even for lunch!"

"Oh hush. I had cleaning duties at lunch time so I barely got to talk to her!" Akemi snapped. She turned to Anna with a big smile. "we missed you. How was your family?"

"They were good,"

"It's great you can go back home now that the house is finished," Akemi was saying. That had been her excuse for not going home for the last two months.

"What did you do?" Kei questioned.

Anna paused and her eyes looked thoughtful, despite her facial features never changing. "I ate...and slept,"

The other two looked at each other in surprise. Was that all? Somehow, they didn't doubt it: Anna looked more well rested than they had ever seen her and she actually looked like she put on some weight.

It was true. Anna had spent the entire weekend sleeping curled up in Mikoto's arms on the bed, or on his chest when he slept on the couch. She sometimes helped Izumo cook or simply sat in the bar sipping orange juice if she was tired of sleeping. Yata brought along his DVDs and she watched them with him. Izumo made all her favorites and the more she ate, the more her appetite increased. Whenever everyone came over, she relaxed around them, just happy to be among them.

She recalled one particular activity that was a bit interesting over the weekend. She had been playing chess against some of the other members and actually beating them. She even beat Mikoto, but that was because he had let himself be beaten.

They were sitting on the couches, opposite each other. She was the white team, he was the black. He had played well with his pieces although he had seemed reluctant to use them. It eventually came down to him having only his king and queen on the board and deliberately he put his king in front of the queen.

"Mikoto, you can't put your king in check," Anna said to him.

Mikoto sighed. "Then I forfeit. What kind of King would I be if I can't protect the queen?" he asked her and stood up.

Anna had still had a knight, a castle and her king. Mikoto had had many openings to win if he used his queen, but he didn't.

After he had gone, Anna had remained as she was, quietly contemplating his words. Izumo saw her and figured out what she was thinking.

"Nevermind him, Anna; Mikoto believes that the King is supposed to protect, not the other way around perhaps he saw all the chess pieces as his clansmen. The only female on his side remaining was the queen. You are the only female close to him, and perhaps in his mind his queen is you. To Mikoto, he would have felt badly if he let his own queen-meaning you-sacrifice herself for him, even though it's just a game,"

Perhaps that would make sense, she decided, considering that sometimes life really was like a game of chess for Mikoto due to all the battles he had gone through since he was probably her age.

But it would be strange for her to be considered his queen: she was something like a princess at Homra-not really a queen. For some reason, she remembered the words Totsuka had said to her the day he had read Cinderella to her; 'Maybe one day you would find your own handsome prince...Or maybe even a King!'

A/N: This chapter was just to show Anna's interaction with everyone and what it was like to be home again. Hope you enjoyed the fluffiness of this chapter. For everyone looking forward to Mikoto meeting Kei, I honestly don't think that it would be soon because I'm still pondering a certain kind of plot that I'm not sure if to go along with or not, but I think you guys might like it even though it might be a bit strange (Kei would meet Mikoto in this plot). I just don't want for the plot to seem too farfetched.

The original story of Cinderella was really awesome. Not sure if I got all the info right, particularly with the rhyme because some versions have it differently.

**Anna's song, as mentioned before in a previous chapter, is her character song that is sung by her seiyuu, Yui Horie. It belongs to its respective creators and I lay no claim on it.

Thanks so much, all of you who reviewed:

mikotos: I'm so glad to hear that you liked the chapter! Well, I can't promise that Mikoto will meet Kei soon, but I hope you continue enjoying the story before he does :)

Titania: Who knows how Season 2 will be? Maybe they would make Anna the new King o.O? That's a weird idea, but who knows? Glad you loved the chapter and sorry for tricking you (although I'm grinning evilly inside :P)

Indochine: Aww...I couldn't help it! The opportunity was just...there! Hope you liked this chapter though :) How was the morphine lecture? I'm still looking out for that chapter...I saw some scans of it in Chinese I think and it looked really funny (wish I understood Chinese...or Japanese).

annashina: No, it's not gonna end anytime soon :)

XxXxSayuri-ChanxXxX: I think Anna would be very beautiful...and still retain some of her cuteness. Whenever she blinks, I go 'awww...so adorable!' Hahaha. This story still has quite a way to go and I hope you continue to enjoy it :)

IzzatiNoKitsune: I'm glad to hear that you're really enjoying the chapters. That means a lot to me :) And so sorry for scaring you!

Guest: Don't worry, I wouldn't the chapter so abruptly! Thanks so much for your lovely words. They were a real compliment to me :)

iCooky: I think Mikoto probably would have swatted the spider too :) Glad you liked the chapter so much. I hope you didn't fall asleep in school! Make sure you get plenty of rest :) What you said about me keeping Mikoto in character really means a lot to me because I sometimes wonder if he gets a bit OOC, especially in the parts with Anna/Mikoto fluff although I developed the plot in earlier chapters to explain that. Thanks so much, I appreciate it :)

Yuuna-chan: I'm glad to hear you like it so much and I hope you keep enjoying it :)

Mienchan-ish: Hm..I have some ideas for their encounter. It might not be soon, but I hope you enjoy the story until they do meet :)

dragon's nest: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter so much, and I hope you enjoyed this one too :) I tried with this chapter and I hope you liked the rest of Homra's reaction to Anna's return and her growth spurt :)

Ambivalencia: So good to hear from you! Well, the time skip is just two weeks, but there will obviously be more timeskips :) Hope you liked this chapter too :)

fearfulfears: hope you really enjoyed this chapter and glad you enjoyed the last one...OMG, what did you do when you saw that spider?

Bree Renee: That's alright about the late review because I posted the last chapter probably around 1 or 2am. I expect that you would probably be sleeping around that time. Glad you liked the chapter :)

val615: Hm...I wonder what his reaction would be like? All in good time we'll find out I guess. Glad you liked the chapter and hope you liked this one too :)

ladeste: Glad you liked it :)

D: I'm so sorry to hear that you get them that badly :( I hope you have like good medications and stuff to help you. Maybe Mikoto will develop a love interest ;)

nannerlovessnickers: Don't worry, the end won't be any time soon :) I'm really happy to know that you like the story so much. They probably will, they probably won't. Don't want to spoil anything for you ;)

Thank you all again so much for your lovely reviews. I hope you really enjoyed this chapter as well, and that you look forward to the next. Thank you all also, all those who follow and favorite this story. I truly appreciate it and you all encourage and motivate me to keep writing.

God bless.

P.S: What did you think of this chapter?