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Hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. Enjoy!:)

Summary: Anna and Yoh were never the romantic type, yet when they give it a try, things take a turn for the worse? Best? Find out yourselves.

Small warning - the chapter contains some angst

Chapter 2: How to be romantic…

'Almost…almost there…' Yoh thought dragging his body the last miles to the house. The weights were triple the usual size and his body hurt so bad from head till toe. And on top of that he was carrying two bags with stuff he had for Anna. He really wanted to surprise her! But to make time for that, he had to run faster, to catch up on the time spent for those unplanned 'stops' for her. So much more pain…

'Hope it's worth it.' Yoh cried to himself. Since he made the deal with Anna, two days ago, they didn't actually have any time to themselves at all. Training just over exhaust him and then he had some chores to catch up with.

Compared to him, Anna just seemed busy watching TV. Part of Yoh liked to believe Anna saw he was dead tired and just needed sleep and left him to rest instead of initiating any moment. The other part thought that she was just a bit scared of facing her emotions again. Maybe it was a bit of both…

'Who could have thought, Anna is scared of something…of me, or well her feelings for me.' Yoh snickered. 'Too bad I can't share it with Manta or Amidamaru, they wouldn't believe it…' Yoh continued thoughtfully. To be honest, he was actually thrilled to be spending time just with Anna without no one knowing. Something about the whole secrecy and trying something new made him feel really excited.

He also felt nice to know that the girl was giving him such a unique chance. Yoh knew how much trust they had in one another, but to actually see her open up with those emotions just to him… that was something he felt like cherishing and protecting from the world until the girl would be confident enough to show this side of hers to others without seeing it as a weakness. Or plainly showing it as a weakness by getting flustered or embarrassed. Not that he was any better. But Yoh was confident that they'll learn in time together how to work on those emotions.

Yoh found himself blushing and smiling widely. And glad for the deal. He was looking forward to getting home because before he left to train, he felt Anna's gaze and in one short exchange he understood - she'll be waiting for him after he was done running. She usually let him 'breath' after two days of intense training and by breath, that meant to have the afternoon to himself and evening to do chores. And then, the next day, back to more intensive training…

Although he was feeling rather exhausted, he tried to push this thought aside. He wanted to spend some time with her. He desperately wanted because he loved her and those feelings she made him feel whenever she was around. Or close to him. God was he smitten!

Yoh's usual mood was being happy and carefree, but being in love happy and carefree with Anna was a level of happiness that he wasn't thought it was possible to feel. So of course, he was looking forward to seeing her and her open affection. And after all, exercising not to feel tired was good training too….

He could finally see the house in sight and his grin was about to go wider when it suddenly dropped. There was a thin, yet visible line of smoke coming from their house. He froze in his place for a second.

"ANNA!" Yoh shouted and then suddenly started running to the house faster than ever before.

He knew she was alone, if something had happened, no one would had come to warn him or even Manta. A wave of guilt overcame him. It was because of him she was alone.

'Please, no, no, no!' Yoh begged, breath raging, feet hurting sprinting through the garden.

He noticed the smoke looked thicker upon approaching the house and seemed to be coming from the kitchen. He almost smashed the front door, threw the bags and the weights and dashed through the house frantically calling her name. No answer. He panicked.

'Not today, not now, not after…' Yoh prayed to the Great Spirit.

He ran through the house at a speed he wouldn't think it was possible to have after his training. And not after how his lungs were hurting in desperate need of air, air that he could barely take in because of the pressure he was feeling on his chest ever since he saw that smoke.

Yoh finally felt a bit of the weight lessen upon hearing Anna's cough when he entered the kitchen filled with thick smoke. Instinctively, yet stupidly, his body tried taking in some air, but breathed in only smoke, quite a large amount, making Yoh cough violently.

"An..Anna?!" He asked through his coughs trying to stop them and focus on finding her in the now seemingly enormous kitchen.

"Yoh?" She replied coughing herself.

"Anna…where…are…?"

"Stay there, I'm almost done!"

And then Yoh heard a huge splash followed by a long hiss.

"There, finally done!"

Yoh finally managed to see Anna through the smoke. She was on her knees in front of the oven with a big pot dripping water. Now that the main source of the fire was extinguished, the smoke started to fade away through the window and rest of the house.

Yoh couldn't believe his eyes. Anna looked fine. Totally fine. Her usual expression on, hair hanging back freely, she was looking at him rather bored.

He felt he could breathe again, yet no air seemed to come in. He felt dizzy. He stepped closer to her and placed his hands on her shoulders to convince himself she was indeed there and she was indeed fine. Her eyes widen upon the contact.

"Yoh…?" She questioned seeing his dazed look and registering his ragged breathing.

"You…OK?" He managed between rasped breaths.

"Yes, burnt a finger or two, but it doesn't hurt. Who thought the fish would burn so fast if I turn on the oven higher?"

"You…what?" Yoh said letting himself fall on his now trembling knees in front of her, his hands still on her shoulders. She tried to focus on keeping her voice steady despite his close contact and presence.

"I tried to cook lunch, but I forgot to put the fish in the oven at the right time and realized you will get back before it's done, so I turned on the temperature at maximum to speed up the process. As I was watching TV waiting for it to be done, I smelled smoke and when I opened the kitchen door, there was fire coming out of the over and there was smoke everywhere. I opened the window and the oven and started pouring water on it, but it took me longer than I expected. I think I heard you calling but I was busy with quickly getting the pot filled and throwing it on the fire and then you came in…"

"You OK…" Yoh said as he felt his eyes growing heavy. Adrenaline gone, he felt overcome by the flow of emotions he felt before - exhaustion, fear, guilt, dread.

"Yes, I already said that…Yoh, are you OK?"

As a reply, Yoh fainted collapsing over Anna, who was taken by surprise and fell on her back taking an unconscious Yoh down with her.

"YOH?!" She said annoyed thinking, no, hoping he somehow accidentally fell on her and not just collapsed motionless on her.

No answer. She felt his shallow breathing on her chest.

"Yoh?" Anna asked again with a tint of panic in her voice.

She made an effort to move him on her side so she can sit up and look at him.

"YOH!" She tried again shaking him, gave him a slap, all the time calling his name, but he didn't move.

She felt fear and panic overcoming her, but she slapped her hands on her cheeks in an effort to keep herself calm and focused, Yoh needed her! She had to think fast, not to panic. Her eyes landed on the discarded pot. She quickly filled it with cold water and split it all on Yoh's face. He woke up from the sudden thermal shock and started to cough water while trying to once again catch his breath.

"Anna, you gotta stop doing that!" He complained trying to get some air in his lungs.

To Anna's horror, he seemed he was suffocating and his body was shaking. She filled a glass with water and extended a trembling hand with it towards him hoping it will help calm him down. He grabbed it and drank a bit of it before putting it down and trying to get his air in his lungs by taking small breaths.

Anna took a place next to him and placed her hand on his back, trying to offer some kind of comfort. He grabbed her other hand, distracting her, but she didn't take it away. After another few minutes he finally seemed to start breathing normally again.

"Is it from the smoke? Did something happen during the training?" Anna asked genuinely concerned as she removed her hand from his back.

"No, it's from you."

"Me?!"

"I thought something happened to you when I saw the smoke and I panicked. Then my mind just made everything look much worse than it seemed… Sorry, should have thought you will know how to handle the situation." Yoh said trying to act dismissive, yet falling miserably as his body was still a bit shaking from the events. And feeling a bit cold now with his hair and t-shirt wet from the water Anna threw on him.

'I can't believe I got so worked up…I guess it's not just Anna who is opening up and feeling new emotions, it's also me…I mean I knew I cared for her a lot before, but ever since we took this new step, my emotions for her have been all over the place…I feel I'm acting out a bit just because I really want this to work out and, at the same time, after how happy I felt with her, I am afraid to lose this now more than ever.' Yoh thought as he unconsciously tightened his hold on her hand. She squeezed back.

"Idiot! I wouldn't be that stupid to sit there and burn. There are more chances for Hell to freeze than me to get killed by a stupid house fire. The whole neighborhood could burn and I would still find a way to be the last one standing."

Anna considered slapping him for even thinking of her as being 'weak' enough to get caught in such a stupid accident and knock some sense into his head. However, his half smile and still very pale face made her worried he would faint again from the hit. At least he wasn't trembling anymore from the scare and seemed to be breathing normally.

"Why were you cooking? I was supposed to cook…" Yoh suddenly realized looking at her confused.

Anna averted her gaze and started shifting uncomfortably. She tried to get her hand back, but he didn't release it. Not yet.

"What happened to honesty?"

"I was trying to do something romantic for us…I read in a magazine that cooking is a good way to show affection towards another, but it turned out into a mess…I mean look at the kitchen…look at you…Amidamaru looks more alive than you when you came in the kitchen…" Anna confessed trying to keep her voice steady, but she was nervous and frustrated because her surprise not only almost burnt their kitchen, but also gave Yoh a panic attack.

She cursed her feelings for making her act this way and his feelings for making him such a mess in front of her. 'God, Yoh with open feelings for me is a walking mess…an adorable walking mess and I weirdly love him even more for that. Is there something wrong with me?!' Anna thought. And why wasn't he giving her her hand back? She could have run away by now. Did he know her intentions?

"Hey, we made a deal, no running out if it so soon…"

Anna looked stunned.

"You're like an open book sometimes, Anna, though I didn't think you would run away literally, but I guess I didn't get that part right judging from your reaction to my words." Yoh said rubbing the back of his head absent-mindedly. She noticed a small blush on his face that grew redder as he spoke. "Actually, I was trying to, you know, work on what we agreed too and, well, brought you some stuff that girls like, I mean that I thought you would like…see, I've read that magazine too and the whole romantic article for couples and stuff and…well, since you liked the magazine, I thought you'll be happy with what it says too or at least I hope so…"

Now he was averting his gaze and she was the one blushing. She felt a sudden urge of excitement and a smile was slowly making its way on her face. She lightly pulled their intertwined hands in an attempt to make him stand up.

"Show me!" She demanded boldly trying to distract them from their awkwardness.

"I think I threw it somewhere at the entrance. Let's go fetch it."

"Get a new shirt first, I'll bring you a towel. Last thing we need it's you catching a cold and skipping on training."

"OK, but no peeking in the hall, I want to show you what I got! And I need to check if the headphones got any water on…"

"I'm not making any promises, so you'd better hurry!"

Yoh sat in the entrance hall enthusiastically going through the contents of the bags, with a towel around his shoulders and with the headphones on his head, fortunately unaffected by the water.

Anna watched him smiling and waiting excitingly to see what he brought, she couldn't remember all the details from that article. She shouldn't be enjoying this this much, should she? His enthusiasm and grins were contagious. She considered them side effects of falling in love with the smiling idiot. Her smiling idiot.

Finally, Yoh pulled out of it a small bouquet of daisies and handed it to her.

"Flowers?" She asked with a small blush on her face taking the flowers.

"Yeah, but wait there's more."

Yoh also took out another small bouquet of wildflowers, some flowers she's seen growing in the cemetery, a water lily, a sunflower and then she watched him take out quite a large bush with small white flowers on it. He arranged them all nicely at her feet by size. She could see soil still falling from their visible roots. Yoh showed them to her happily like a kid showing his parents their new drawing.

"Where did you get all these? And why so many?" She asked brows furrowed.

"Didn't know what flower you liked and the magazine specified it has to be 'her favourite flowers', so I just took any flower I could find on my run."

"Oh…thank you Yoh, that's actually a really nice gesture. I like them all." Anna said smiling, genuinely touched by his effort to please her.

It was a simple yet beautiful smile that made Yoh beam at her happily. He was overjoyed that his plan worked. He was mentally doing a happy dance when he noticed Anna stepping over the flowers, carefully not to walk on them, until she was in front of him. She looked sideways, anywhere than at him and her face was red. Then she squeezed her eyes closed and opened her arms.

"A…Anna, what are you doing?" Yoh asked confused, head leaning on a side like a puppy. 'She looks so cute'. He thought.

"What does it look like?" Anna asked peeking with one eye at him.

"It looks like you are trying to fly."

"TO FLY?" Anna fully turned at him eyes wide opened and irritated that Yoh's not getting it.

"Yeah, you spread your arms like this, it looked as if you are about to flap your arms and fly!" Yoh imitated her gesture moving his arms and adding some bird noises, making Anna get red from being angry rather than flustered anymore.

"I'M TRYING TO GIVE YOU A THANK YOU HUG FOR THE FLOWERS, IDIOT!" She yelled pissed off.

Yoh looked at her surprised and stopped midway flapping his so-called wings.

"I'm sorry Anna, I wasn't sure that was a hug, I swear, that was my second guess, but I was too afraid to ask…" Yoh said with honesty.

"Stupid! I am trying my best here and here I thought you were making fun of me…"

"Not at all, I thought you were actually pretty cute!" Yoh blurted out.

"You did?"

"I..I did."

Silence. Awkward blushing stares.

"Can I still get that hug?"

"Sure." Anna said shily and opened her arms again but this time she actually tried looking at him. It wasn't such a bad sight to look at. Yoh was smiling widely like she was giving him something he's always wished for.

'This is it. Just a hug. More close contact. They say hugs are nice. Yoh's gonna hug me. He actually wants to hug me.' Anna thought. She saw him coming and, instinctively, she held her breath, squeezed her eyes shot again and waited to be covered in the warmth of his arms.

"YOH-DONO!"

"Oh, no, that's Amidamaru!" Yoh said just as his arms were one inch away from Anna's.

Anna also opened her eyes and shouted:

"The flowers, quick!"

"There's no time, I can see him floating past the entrance" Yoh replied looking around for something to cover the flowers.

"The shoe cabinet, help me move it!"

They both grabbed its corners and smashed it on the ground on top of the flowers just as Amidamaru came in. Anna hissed from the action, Yoh noticed, but didn't get a chance to say more.

"Yoh-dono!" Amidamaru cried with drops of ghost sweat on his face and looking at what seem to be Anna throwing furniture around. Somehow from the angle he came, he didn't see Yoh also helped push that.

"Amidamaru, what is it?"

"Yoh-dono, I was on one of the routes Lady Anna sent me, but then I felt this sudden panic surge through our connection. I could feel you were in great pain, almost as if you were dying and, at some point, I swear I felt you died, so I rushed here as fast as I could. I apologize Yoh-dono, I got lost a couple of times before I made it! Are you…" A very worried Amidamaru said, but then stopped at the end upon seeing Anna.

Yoh also felt it and turned around. Anna was burning. Flames of furry were coming in waves out of her. Her face was darkened by anger and her eyes made Amidamaru feel like he was dying on loop just by watching them.

"Amidamaru, I am fine now, I…" Yoh tried, but Anna stepped in.

"AMIDAMARU." She said between her teeth, anger radiating out of her. "This was a test and you failed it. Yoh could have been in real danger and you came in 30 minutes, not 25. I've put Yoh through some harsh new training to make sure you feel it too. And you both FAILED. Now I want you Amidamaru gone in the other side of the town and back in no less than 2 hours. And you better find at least 3 new ways of coming back in one go or else you're making a trip to hell RIGHT NOW." The girl continued radiating so much rage that Amidamaru ran away crying for himself and Yoh-dono's life.

Yoh was terrified. Like he knew the real reason Anna was so angry, but still the energy she was radiating was both frightening and incredible. It was like he could feel her furyoku crackling in the air and overflowing out of her going all throughout the house. He swore he heard a window break.

"Yoh, put this back up! And then clean this room. And the kitchen. THE WHOLE HOUSE!" She demanded fuming and left the room still angry.

Yoh sighed. He got off easy. He put the cabinet back and was relieved to find the flowers not squashed due to the shoe spaces from it. Then he also noticed his forgotten bags and remembered there was still one thing he had for Anna.

He found her in the living room, seemingly reading a magazine. Yoh could tell she was starring blankly at the pages, lost in thought.

"You can leave this room to clean last." She growled.

"The flowers are fine, I've put them in a vase and left them in front of the door of your room." Yoh said confidently and noticed a ghost of a smile on her face.

"Whatever."

"I also have one last gift for you…"

"You do?"

That got her attention. She stopped 'reading' and looked at him pouting, the last traces of anger almost fading away.

"Yes, here." Yoh said as he came closer, kneeled in front of her and extended his palm blushing.

Her eyes sparkled and Yoh noticed he's never seen this emotion on her face before. He promised himself to try and make her show this face more often, it made her look beautiful, she was shining.

It was a kids' bracelet. The ones that have different colorful round candies that last 'forever' due to the enormous amount of chemicals within, all pierced by an elastic band. However, for Anna it was the most precious gift ever.

It triggered some distant past memory. No older than 5-6 years old, Anna remembered seeing kids wear those, play with them, eat them…they used to be so popular and all shops had them. She'd never asked for one because she felt it would be disrespectful towards Kino to ask for such a childish thing, especially after she took her in, the monster. She was difficult enough, no one else wanted her, so she didn't want to give Kino a reason to regret taking her in or to make herself look as a bigger burden. So she never asked for anything, yet her heart longed for such a childish common thing, longed for a normal childhood and affection.

She was brought back to present by Yoh's voice. He was ranting cheerfully, the way he does when gets all flustered around her and blushing madly.

"I don't have a lot of pocket money since, you know, you take care of the money in the house, but I had some spare money and I saw this in a shop and I remembered how popular those were when I was small and I really liked them when I was a kid and, as I said, I don't have that much money and I also read girls like jewellery, and you obviously like jewellery too cause you wear bracelets and necklaces, so I thought you might like this, I mean I know it's not valuable, yet…do you, I mean I hope it also fits and…" Yoh stopped because he noticed Anna's expression had changed. Was she tearing up?

He felt her arms around him and his face landed on her shoulder before he had a better chance of starring at her face better.

"Thank you, I really like it. I've always wanted one. And thank you for the flowers. That was a really nice gesture too. They both are especially because they came from you, Yoh." Anna praised him keeping her shaky voice in check.

She used one of her hands to wipe the little tears that formed at the corners of her eyes and then hugged him with both arms as if her life depended on it. She could finally enjoy the warmth of his body and his arms around her. It was beautiful, hugs were great, Anna concluded resting her head on his shoulder. She could allow herself to have more of those.

Yoh was doing great himself. He was certain Anna would be annoyed with his silly gifts, yet she loved them. He was so euphoric he felt like both laughing and crying. He didn't care, he'll just shed some happy tears. He slowly squeezed her in his arms. Her hair was so soft and she felt so warm…warm with love and not anger, Yoh decided. He loved hugs. Now he had someone to give them to.

Their sweet moment was interrupted by loud stomach growls coming from both. They awkwardly parted still facing each other.

"I should go make us some food, it's late past lunch time."

"We can have take-away. Just this time. There's an ad on the magazine, have a look and whatever you want for yourself, order for me too."

"That's a great idea Anna! But first…"

He grabbed her hand and raised it to his eye level inspecting it carefully. Two fingers were noticeable redder than the others. Yoh took two band-aids from his pocket that he had put there before coming in the living room and bandaged her fingers. Then boldly and smirking gave them both a kiss before releasing her hand.

"There! Now they should be better."

"I told you they don't hurt." Anna defended weakly, her voice above a whisper.

"I know, but when we threw the furniture, I was afraid you got scratched."

"That's…that's really thoughtful of you…well, I'm going to make sure that flowers aren't laying so plainly on the hall and move them into my room while you order." She said trying to find her voice and stood up quickly with an obvious blush on her cheeks.

"Anna?" Yoh asked as she was about to leave the room.

"Yes, Yoh?"

"Are we having a date?" He asked with puppy sparkling eyes and with a shy smile on.

"Yeah…yeah I think so…" She replied blushing.

"Anna, one more thing?"

"Yes, Yoh?"

"Were you reading the magazine upside down?" Yoh asked grinning and pointing at the magazine that she left open and that she was 'reading' before.

"SHUT UP!" She fumed leaving while Yoh tried to keep himself from bursting into laughter.

Anna and Yoh sat in front of the TV eating take-away and cuddled under a blanket. Anna was wearing the bracelet. Just for now. She'll take it off later. For now they just enjoyed each other's presence. They discussed random things, they laughed, they had fun.

At Yoh's sincere worried pleas, Anna promised not to use the kitchen ever again without him being at home too. At Anna's request, Yoh also promised he won't bring any more gifts, at least not very soon. She liked him regardless of what he brought, yet she did appreciate his attention. They both concluded they should act like themselves and find a way to be romantic in their own way rather than follow a magazine's guide to couples' romance. It would save them from unnecessary awkward situations that would also put their secret in peril.

They both agreed they had a great first date.

"She was throwing furniture around the house?! But that's horrible!" Manta said horrified the next day when Amidamaru and Yoh told him about the events from yesterday.

Yoh was intensively training in the garden - lifting weights up and down and keeping them for long periods of time above his head, while Manta and Amidamaru were sitting on the porch.

"She also broke a window." Amidamaru confessed. "And there was water everywhere in the kitchen."

"Did she try to drown you, Yoh? Or did she throw you through the window? Or because you didn't drown she threw you through the window?!" Manta asked concerned. Amidamaru paled.

"That would explain the terrible things I felt through our connection, Yoh-dono. It was as he was dying Manta, it was a horrible feeling."

'We almost got caught up again by the other house ghosts when they arrived because we kind of snoozed in….and then, of course, I had to clean the house and forgot to start with the kitchen…still wondering how that window broke or more exactly how Anna did it because I have a feeling it was indeed her when she had that anger outburst…'Yoh was thinking, but then realized his friends were waiting for an answer from him, so he replied:

"Yes, something like that, she put me to hold my breath for long periods of times underwater and I was really bad at it. She also threw something at me and I ducked and that's how the window broke." Yoh explained.

Manta and Amidamaru nodded in understanding. Then Amidamaru asked how Manta's day has gone, so the little boy started to cheerfully tell him all about his latest class.

Yoh continued his training. If he got distracted by their chat, Anna won't be too pleased. Speaking of, Yoh noticed her with the corner of his eye, watching him from the balcony.

"Liar." She mouthed in his direction. He smiled in return and then focused back on his training.

Anna was thinking of the broken window too, she knew it was her who broke it. She had felt her furyoku expand everywhere and remembered making an effort not to hurt Yoh accidentally. She remembered having felt before so much power hard to contain and control and the thought made her shudder. However, this time, it somehow felt different, like she could somehow actually overpower it if she actually used her strong will.

Anna wondered…If negative thoughts and hate were the fuel for her old powers, what would happen if she would have positive feelings and use them to fuel her powers instead? Or at least use the positive thoughts to control the negative ones if that made sense. Of course, she was afraid of those powers, but she was also stronger now. She needed to be Stronger for her and for Yoh, she did make a promise to herself back then. And she also wanted to overcome those fears. And the only way was to face them. Just as she was working on her insecurities and fear towards her emotions for Yoh by facing them. Speaking of Yoh…

She focused on him. She concentrated on his thoughts. She starred. Nothing. Maybe it was just her imagination she felt her powers coming back…yet that window broken stood proof mocking her…Her head was starting to hurt from the concentration.

Anna realized Yoh was looking at her, probably because he felt her gaze on him. She waved dismissively, and after a quick glance at Amidamaru and Manta who seemed still busy talking, she slowly smiled at him and he returned it immediately. Then he resumed his workout.

'She's so cute when she smiles.' Anna suddenly heard and looked in his direction flabbergasted. Her headache increased.

"Yoh, maybe you should take a break, your face is red." Manta suggested.

"Maybe you should go clean the kitchen with Amidamaru since I heard you two found it a mess! You're distracting Yoh. GO, NOW!" Anna snapped from the balcony trying to distract herself from the pain.

"YES ANNA!" Manta and Amidamaru both shouted surprised by the girl and run indoors.

'I thought you said she was in the living room!'

'That's where she was when you came Manta, I didn't know she moved!'

'Anna has such a good hearing.' Yoh noted continuing his training before Anna would snap at him too.

Anna's head was buzzing with different random thoughts from the people and ghosts within the house. Instead of panicking and letting herself being overwhelmed, she took a deep breath and tried to remember the memories from yesterday. She thought of the candy bracelet safely tucked in a box within her wardrobe. She closed her eyes and pictured an on-off switch. She concentrated on the off part. She went into her room.

Her head hurt and she covered it with her hands in agony, yet she didn't give up on focusing on that off switch. It hurt for another couple of minutes until the buzz died off slowly and her mind was quiet once again.

Anna collapsed on her knees from the effort, her breath coming out ragged. Her body was trembling as an aftermath of the overwhelming power she felt, but she smiled confidently. This was sure an interesting discovery.

'I guess Yoh won't be the only one training from now on…' She thought as she went outside to once again wave dismissively at a troubled Yoh. She thought he might have felt something was wrong with her. After all, their connection was growing…