A/N: Thank you to the readers who took time to show me their love for this fiasco. You are much appreciated!
So now, forget about the 'cheating' part. Here's drummer Yoh, ya'll.
. . . . . . . . . . .
UNSPOKEN FAITH – Chapter 2
"Wait."
Dark chestnut eyes welcomed her.
They displayed so much fire and brilliance that it was so easy to become lost in them. The bearer presented an amused expression paired with a hearty smile never leaving his lips.
"Come on, Anna! We'll miss it!"
Uncertainty creeped at the back of her mind as she surveyed the rocky road before her.
There were boulders that came in different shapes and sizes. Some appeared sharp as refined glaciers and most were mossy and slippery. Mud surrounded the spaces between the earth formations due to mixing of sand and saltwater, and the lopsided path ahead was enough to doubt her faith. Realizing the distance of a few meters away from him, she immediately regretted her stubbornness for seeing the trek as a challenge and refusing her husband's repeated offers for assistance.
The recurring sounds of the sea meeting the shore resembled the intensity of emotions in her chest; each wave aggravating her accelerating pulse.
Anna gazed back towards Yoh's encouraging face and it was all she needed to clear her mind from doubts. The blonde put her game face back on as soon as she regained her confidence.
Clutching her sandals on her right hand and bunching her skirt on her left, almost exposing her bikini bottom, she trudged across the obstacle course. Her weight was skilfully balanced with each leap, after leap, after leap, overcoming the tough hurdles that separated her from her safe haven.
Finally, only one colossal rock stood between them, and she watched the love of her life extend his robust hand towards her direction to anticipate her arrival. With her unwavering trust, she took the ultimate jump.
But like a cruel prank, an obnoxious giant crab suddenly crawled up blocking her trail, and this triggered a reflex to retract her force. Her sudden hesitation disrupted the law of inertia and caused her to lose equilibrium.
Anna shut her eyes forcefully as she braced herself for an inevitable and humiliating fall, but it never came. Instead, her body was met with overwhelming feelings of security as she found herself within Yoh's comforting embrace— his left hand circling her tiny waist and his right protectively grasping the back of her head, pressing her face onto his chest.
The majestic mix of sunset skies enveloped them. His catch was just in time for them to watch the sunset from their own perfect little spot, but neither seemed to care for they already drowned in each other's company.
She smiled as she inhaled his familiar masculine scent. The realisation of safety dawned onto her, much more when she heard him whisper into her ear…
"I got you."
She woke up with a pulsating headache.
The back of her fingers found its way towards her still closed, but twitching eyes, as she intended to rub off the unpleasant sensation of fatigue. She hoped luck played its part in successfully prying her eyes open, but she felt the worsening of discomfort as soon as she started. Her hand slid across her forehead as she massaged all the way through her scalp, grabbing a handful of her rebellious blonde hair in the process.
She could not even recall how she got to where she was. If her hazy memory serves her right, she only kept running away from all the hurt and pain until her tired feet brought her to temporary shelter, a hotel somewhere amidst Tokyo. Anna searched for her phone and read the time. It has not even been an hour since she checked into the place and the lack of proper rest can be traced to her now worsening discomfort.
Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours, she did not know exactly how long it has been since she contemplated on departing from the warmth of her bed. She needed strength to do it, since it was the only thing in the world that gave her comfort at the moment.
Finally, she noticed the stark skies with city night lights seeping through the tiny gaps of the vertical window blinds when she peered her eyes open, but not without receiving further agony. The foreboding sensation of nausea struck her like lightning, and she had no choice but to hold her breath and fly towards the bathroom in hopes of making it in time.
She needed a bath.
A warm, pleasing one, to soothe all her unreleased tension evidenced by the pain that radiated towards her neck, shoulder and lower back. She slowly breathed in a considerable amount of air to fill her lungs, and then briskly exhaled as if she intended to flush away all the negativity from her complicated life.
The sound of splashing water echoed as she turned the tap in full blast. She wiped her mouth with her wet hands and stared at the water that pooled at the bottom of the sink, waiting to be drained.
Her mouth let out yet another sigh as her sight travelled against the fog-laden mirror in front of her, created by the mixed vapour of the hot water and her breath.
The woman in front of her bit her lower lip as tears threatened to fall. She knew she was unsuccessful when one escaped from her left eye, and she wiped it hastily in disgust.
Why would she? Why will she bother to lay a tear for something so trivial when she had more important things to worry about at the back of her head? Why is there a need to feel pointless emotions for such child's play?
Memories raced through her mind; and she felt anger quickly replacing the desolation in her heart like never before.
Sure, he could argue that it was nothing. That it was just a simple misunderstanding. An innocent demonstration of friendship and a cordial affectation. He could spend all day throwing sugar-coated words at her to make her thoughts disappear, to make her believe him again. He can reason out that the other person— a woman, was none other than a companion who shared mutual interests and passion with him.
"Anna… It's not what it looks like."
Yoh carefully approached her with palms pleadingly spread outward. A common gesture of someone trying to diffuse a bomb that is about to explode.
"How original." She immediately spat, taking a step back. Nothing coherent reached her ears due to the fact that her emotions were already swirling down in a muddy puddled chaos. The only sensation that her mind recognized was the agonizing and forceful hammering of her heartbeats within her chest.
Up to the last minute, she desperately clung onto the last strands of hope, ready to give him the benefit of the doubt for being inside a hotel room which was booked under another woman's name. However, all remaining pieces of trust dissipated when the said other woman voiced his name upon catching-up to him by the door, her appearance totally dishevelled with her loosely fitted robe. Tamao stopped dead in her tracks behind Yoh, wide eyed, hand covering her mouth when she saw Anna standing face to face with them.
How dare he?
Despite their status as husband and wife being common knowledge to their family, friends, colleagues, and even the public, still he chose to let something like this get out of hand. How could he allow the idea of himself and another woman be used in a notion that corrupted the minds of the people around him with malice?
He knew that the past months have been rougher than ever between the two of them. Things have been monotonous lately. And even though some efforts were thrown here and there just to stay afloat above the water, they surely weren't enough; not sufficient to avoid drowning anytime soon. He had the awareness of the certain barriers that grew day by day between them, yet instead of trying to compensate, his audacity has led him to commit such actions.
"Anna, please! Listen!"
She did not even slow down, not daring to look back as he chased her frantically down the hotel corridors. Her breath became more ragged as she tried her best to put her small and delicate feet into nimble action.
"Anna!"
Seeing the small foyer along the hallway was her cue to turn right. It was her little landmark to finding her exit from hell. She silently cursed herself for choosing to wear heels despite the situation. Her feet were killing her already, but not as much as her heart.
The blonde ran inside the elevators and pressed the 'lobby' button repeatedly in an attempt to outrun her chaser; but like a joke that turned sour, Yoh stuck his arms inside just in time and the doors sprung back open.
Damn him and his long legs that needed no effort on his part with catching-up to her.
He slowly stepped inside the carriage then pressed each and every floor button below their current level down to the lobby without taking off his intense gaze on her. It was silly of him to do so, but he was desperate. He needed to buy time. She, on the other hand, stepped away from him until her back hit the wall. She kept her piercing glare past him, fixed on the elevator doors, refusing to acknowledge his presence.
Uncomfortable silence set in. Yoh silently thanked the gods that no one else boarded from the other floors every time the elevator stopped and opened its doors.
"We need to talk."
"I have seen enough, thank you."
"Anna—"
"Why did you lie?" He was caught off-guard with her sudden inquiry.
"I didn't—"
"Bullshit! Don't you ever try to justify your deeds, Yoh, swear to God—!" All her barriers of cool now started to break, she placed both her palms on her face with an exasperated sigh.
"Okay, look, I was only trying to control the situation and—"
"Only? ONLY!? What, you only had a ridiculous memory lapse, then poof! Suddenly you forgot that you were supposed to be with Ren instead of her!?" This time, she was already hitting her palms against his chest, pushing him away from her with every forceful contact.
"Anna, please calm down. We can talk about—"
"DO NOT—!" Her hateful glare intensified with tears already pooling in her eyes. "DON'T YOU DARE… TELL ME… TO CALM DOWN RIGHT NOW!"
It was the perfect time for someone to show up and board the elevator with them from about 4 floors away from the lobby, and Yoh never felt a stronger urge to strangle a complete stranger in his whole life. He was ready to pounce on the third wheeler when the culprit seemed to recognize Anna as a singer and greeted her with sparkling eyes. Anna just gave a genteel nod towards the man. Luckily, he got off the next level, leaving the couple alone with each other once again.
They only had three floors left before reaching their destination. Yoh had to act fast because surely, they won't be able to freely express themselves once they've reached the common areas of the hotel with the risk of other people, or worse—the paparazzi, witnessing their drama.
He tried to close the gap by grabbing Anna's wrist and reaching for her shoulders to pull her into a hug. He gulped at the abrupt physical contact that he himself created. Meanwhile, she stood motionless with a sullen expression on her face, still refusing to look into his eyes.
"Let me go."
"No, we will talk."
She pushed him with all her might and yanked her wrist out from his grip just in time as the doors opened to the ground level. He muttered a curse, frustrated with himself from being distracted with her otherworldly beauty despite the madness that surrounded them.
Anna hurriedly stepped out of the elevator, ready to sprint away from him again. At this point, all his brain activities ceased to function properly as he blurted a statement that would end his existence.
"Have I ever complained about you and my brother?"
This evidently caught the blonde's attention as she stopped all forms of movement upon hearing the toxic words.
He mentally cringed at his stupidity. He wanted to retract his words as soon as they left his mouth. Gaslighting was the farthest thing he wanted to do to his wife, but he panicked, and his pride and emotions got the better of him.
"Anna, sorry, it's not what I me—"
*SLAP*
He deserved it.
He never got to finish his words as his wife deftly whipped around making that harsh contact between her left hand and his right cheek happen.
Several onlookers now had their attention piqued towards them, but both did not give any further damn that they were two famous individuals being feasted on by the public. A society thirsty for juicy gossip.
Whatever they do now, the world will soon follow.
This shall be a long night.
Oh, but she's tired of reacting.
She won't make a scene anymore, no. She was sick of that same old routine where she starts bawling like a crazed lover and ending up lowering her morals for the whole world to see.
She was a strong woman and no man will make her feel unworthy. Not even her husband.
No, especially not him.
That being said, she picked herself up with determination, not even bothering to put some make-up on for she did not need it. She was enough. All care tossed aside, she groomed her eyebrows, painted her lips, then went over to her luggage which Amidamaru delivered as per her request that night. She flicked through her options then chose her outfit which can act as her weapon.
Several pings chimed in as she turned off her phone's airplane mode. Notifications started flooding her device— 62 messages from her friends, 17 SMS and 26 missed calls from her husband. She can only heave a forlorn sigh. Their gestures were appreciated, really, but she has not enough strength to deal with them. Not now.
All she wanted was security. She needed someone who would be willing to comfort and protect her, not someone who would cower behind cheap thrills of attraction at the slightest signs of marital indifferences.
Alas, she sprayed her perfume enough to mask her hair and body with irresistible pheromones. She chose her jewels that would complete her look. She was never good with the flashy ones and almost always preferred the minimalist side. However, as she clutched her bag to walk out of her hotel room, the sound of heels muffled by the carpeted floors, there lay a significant detail she chose to omit…
Her wedding ring.
. . . . . . . . . . .
Fingers wound up to press his orange headphones snugly around his ears. The tune which will emit from them will serve as his guide in covering the song, for the room will soon be drowned by the extreme mix of vibrations that will originate from the instrument that he was about to play. He has mastered playing the drums long before he knew how to woo a girl, thus, it served as his refuge at times like this. The thumb on his other hand traced the outline of two wooden sticks grasped firmly in his palm. He smiled absentmindedly with sorrowful eyes as he rolled the objects back and forth before deciding to separate the pair, now one stick on each hand. His tongue darted out abruptly to lick his lips before his grin grew into a more bitter one.
The headphones, the drumsticks, the idea of music itself, all reminded him of one special woman.
His memories dragged him to the pits of hell when he recollected the first time he met Anna; not because he hated the memory, oh gods no, but because of the tremendous guilt and shame that are now haunting his entire being.
Yoh heard the sound of the song intro produced by synced keyboards and muffled bass as he plunged into nostalgia.
"Dude! At his rate, you're never going to find a vocalist!" Declared a loud teenager with a prominent hair dyed in blue.
"Come on guys, it's not too bad. Tomorrow's another day." Replied a beaming younger version of Yoh, already charismatic as ever, although with much more naiveté in his puberty years.
"Look, Yoh, with your twin and mister spiky around, the scenario in your auditions will always end-up with either the males being utterly intimidated, or the females being horribly distracted." Horohoro reasoned as if it was the most normal thing to happen on Earth.
"Are you gonna continue with that slander while pretending we're not here or do I need to stick this bass up your nose?" Ren interrupted in the most passive aggressive tone while leaning on a nearby wall, his instrument carefully settled by his side.
"What!?"
"Wanna try?"
"Well, for what it's worth, you are not wrong, my friend." Both babbling lads whipped their heads towards Hao who acknowledge Horohoro's words as a compliment while casually lighting a cigarette, boyishly crouching on the cement floor.
"Thank you." Horo muttered, proud of himself for stating the obvious.
"Tss, morons."
Yoh calmly watched the chaos before him as if it was the most common of his days. He almost muttered a chuckle when something caught his attention. A sound of a female voice humming.
"Whoah! Guys, guys!" His hand frantically waved in front Ren and Horo who were almost strangling each other's necks by this time. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what!?" The duo snapped in sync. His older brother just looked at him with a raised brow while puffing out a ring of smoke.
"Shh! Listen."
"I heard there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord…"
Their eyes widened as saucers when an angelic female voice reached their senses.
"…but you don't really care for music, do you?"
By this time, all of them hurriedly stood up and trudged around their school's massive rooftop area to look for the source of the melodious sound, like ninjas on a mission.
"…well it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth… the minor falls and the major lifts… the baffled king composing Hallelujah…"
The boys shivered simultaneously when they heard the singer belted the notes of the song with such precision using her superb vocal range, and her husky, powerful but feminine voice.
"Hallelujah… Hallelujah…"
It is when they turned into a secluded corner, with Yoh leading the group, that he laid sight on the most unforgettable vision he has witnessed in his life to date. There, in all of her overflowing glory, a young lady with golden wisps of shoulder length hair being graciously blown by the gentle breeze, sat on a raised concrete amidst the ground. Her back leaned on an adjacent wall, her palms planted downwards on the hard surface beside of her hips, and her distracting smooth legs crossed in an graceful fashion. Thankfully, a pair of earphones were wedged into her ears and her eyes shut while she sang along to the song which only she could hear.
"Hallelujah... Halleluuu- oooohhh- jaaaah"
Yoh watched her delicate pink lips mutter the last few words failing to notice that he was already standing at a mere arm's length in front of her, obviously dazed. His body casted a shadow towards the girl so her eyes darted open, annoyed due to the sudden lack of sunlight reaching her face. An awestruck countenance remained on the younger brunette—pupils dilated, blood risen on both cheeks, mouth slightly agape.
Time stopped and worlds collided when his deep mahogany orbs met her crystallized amber ones.
Yoh forcefully shut his eyes.
Whether it was to relish his precious memory of his first meeting with that young lady, whom is now his wife, or to fight the tears that are about to fall from his eyes, he never knew. His game face returned as he focused on the music from his headphones, prompting him into action.
The drumsticks started to softly tap the Hi-Hats and Crash in a rhythmic commencement, his hands alternating in motion. Next, his right foot started to solidify the beat by stepping on the Bass Pedal, hitting the Bass Drum in repeated two-beat successions, while his left hand now included the Snare in his increased tapping movements. He continued to play the song's intro using his unique drumming style, his head bobbing to each beat, eyes still closed to intensify his connection with the music. The noise from the rhythm electric guitar being played via his headphones marked the acceleration of his passion. Yoh deftly flipped the drumsticks from his hands, caught them in mid-air, then slammed both of them on two different cymbals in perfect timing as the heavy synchronisation of guitars, keyboard and drums all hit in a classic rock drop. He continued playing through the intro as if all of his limbs had a mind of their own.
In this farewell
There's no blood, there's no alibi
'Cause I've drawn regret
From the truth of a thousand lies
So let mercy come and wash away
What I've done
I'll face myself
To cross out what I've become
Erase myself
And let go of what I've done
His actions now showcased his skills in artistic multitasking as he continued striking multiple parts of the drum set with such lively fervour; every strand of pain being released onto the percussions with each beat as a form of displacement.
Put to rest
What you thought of me
While I clean this slate
With the hands of uncertainty
So let mercy come and wash away
What I've done
I'll face myself
To cross out what I've become
Erase myself
And let go of what I've done
The brunette increased his demo of talent by performing an improvised drum solo amidst the bridge of the song, hitting each drum and accessory wildly without a single miss, whilst repeating multiple stick flips here and there. He was grateful that the music room was soundproof. Otherwise, his friend's neighbours won't be too happy about a half-deranged man playing the drums at full force way past midnight.
He swiftly glance at his phone by the table next to him while he played. No return messages, definitely no call backs.
Moments ago, Yoh pushed his hardest to look for his wife who ran away from him tonight. He really did. Tried all his might to contact every person who might knew where she went, used every connection to track her whereabouts, but to no avail. She was not in their home and was not in any of her friends' places. Anna and even her assistant, Amidamaru, seemed adamant about not answering any of his efforts to contact them. She must have given the man strict instructions not to inform him of her location.
Then, he rang him. He tried to contact the only person who can either help him find his Anna, or the only person whom his Anna would seek for advice during this disaster. It had to be him. It had to be his twin brother; but tough luck, he also did not answer.
For what I've done
I start again
And whatever pain may come
Today this ends
I'm forgiving
What I've done
I'll face myself
To cross out what I've become
Erase myself
And let go of what I've done
Forgiving what I've done
He was sure that a single tear now rolled down his cheek. To his surprise, he finished covering the song without breaking his drumsticks or piercing a hole through one of the drums after realising the amount of strength he was using all the while. His knuckles turned white, fingers now sore and deeply reddened from his unconsciously hard grip.
"I must say, you haven't lost your touch."
Yoh's contemplation session now had an audience. Good thing he managed to hear Tao Ren's voice despite the device still nuzzled on his ears. He tried his hardest to plaster a calm smile for his friend. "How long have you been there?"
"The whole time."
"Oh."
"You were so lost in the moment."
Silence ensued.
"So, are you going to start talking or are you still going to mope around like a lost puppy?"
He was out of his mind to think that just showing up at one of his best friends' doorstep the same night after his confrontation with Anna was a good idea. He won't be able to walk out of this unscathed.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"Wow, you are an idiot." Ren started, still dumbfounded about Yoh's confessions. "In fact, you are the biggest idiot in the whole world." He continued; golden eyes drilled towards his friend's head. "No, you are the worst idiot in the whole wide universe."
Yoh sat on a couch which did nothing to give him comfort as he received his friend's reproachful criticisms. His face buried in his hands in complete surrender. Their unplanned meeting now turned into an investigative interrogation, with the chestnut-head as the suspect and the purple-head as the detective. The words being thrown at him became nothing but a saturated heap of sounds as his thoughts wandered off once again.
He peeked outside the window from their bedroom upon hearing a car pullover at the kerb. The sound of engine died down and the headlights turned off as the familiar vehicle parked at the front of their gates.
His brother has brought his wife home after spending dinner with their colleagues. Yoh couldn't join them this time due to his hectic schedule at work. His collaboration with the new artist altered his morning and night routines lately and he had to do a lot of adjustments. And since he could not predict as to what time he'll be able to finish for the day, Hao insisted that he will just bring Anna home after the meeting for everyone's convenience.
He smiled upon thinking about his twin. As co-owner of the record label they both established after disbanding 2 years ago, Hao attended the matters at work which he couldn't.
He always got his back.
But why is it that this time, after seeing his brother's silhouette from inside the car leaning towards his wife to give her his usual cordial peck on her cheek to say goodbye, and her accepting it warmly, he felt an inexplicable pang of jealousy in his heart?
Yoh frowned. His brows almost knitted together. It was funny how at the start of their relationship, Hao and Anna were the definition of the word 'frenemies'. She was always cold towards his brother, and he tried his best to annoy her to death; yet, like a playful jab from fate, they ended-up as the best of friends in time because of one common denominator— they cared deeply for the same person— him. Anna tried her best to tolerate Hao because he was his brother, and Hao protected Anna as his precious sister-in-law, because again, he was his brother.
He knew that the older Asakura had romantic affections for the blonde since day one. Dreaded the reality that somehow, there has been a silent competition in between them all those years just because of a woman; but no malice has ever exuded from his part. Sure, he got jealous from time to time when Hao and Anna got chummy together. In fact, there were times during the course of their pre-married relationship when he wondered how Anna seemed to be more comfortable consulting his brother with some of her grim life concerns. And when he dared to ask about her reason for doing so, she just shrugged and reassured him that sometimes, his twin had a different but more sensible view on things, then she proceeded with easing his doubts by spending some 'quality time' with him.
He always trusted his brother since he never acted upon his feelings for his woman, and he always trusted his wife because he knew she loved him with all of her might.
"And you even dared to include me in your flawed alibi?" Ren stated incredulously and this brought him back to reality.
His friend kept staring at him waiting for an answer, but none came. Instead, he just kept his head bowed down, elbows planted on his thighs, and hair huddled in his hands in anguish.
"Okay, let's say, I'll hand you all the best benefits of the doubt… maybe you just accompanied your colleague out of chivalry. Maybe you lied to Anna only to prevent further damage or to protect her feelings. Maybe Tamao-san was just really an attractive wo—"
"Nothing happened between us." Yoh cut Ren's words off immediately.
"And who's going to believe you?"
"Ren, maybe I had short lapse in judgement, but I would never… you know I'd never-" Yoh struggled to continue his remarks but failed miserably when his flow of thoughts became faster than his ability to articulate.
"But you still lied to your wife," interjected Jeanne who came out of nowhere to set a tray of drinks for them on their coffee table as all three joined in the living room. She sat across the person in question. "Sorry, Yoh, I don't mean to meddle with your conversation, but Anna is also my dear friend."
The sliver-haired woman continued her explanation seeing that the brunette fell silent once again. "Believe me, I have learned to understand that kind of reasoning from men …" she paused and looked at the Tao, who was quietly observing everything while lounging on the sofa, "…but please think about it carefully and ask yourself. Why did you do it? If you insist so much that you did not 'cheat', why did you allow such opportunities to occur? Opportunities for adultery. Who were you trying to protect by hiding the truth? Because if you ask me, as a woman and as a wife, the only thing that got out of harm's way was yours and Tamao's reputations." She looked at Yoh dead straight in the eye. "You have done something selfish that has hurt Anna terribly, Yoh… and it will continue to hurt her until you try to do something to fix it and she accepts."
The head of the residence now had his mouth hanged open, realising how amazing his wife is. All they needed was to hear the right words coming from a woman's perspective, and that saved him so much time and energy from profusely racking his brains out for more ideas on how to support his friends at a difficult time of their marriage.
Jeanne smiled then returned to her sweet, innocent nature, her palms clasped together. "Alright then! I shall now leave the two of you be." She turned to approach her husband who stood up to plant a tender kiss on her forehead.
"I'll go retire for the night."
"Alright. I won't be too long."
Yoh remained with a weary countenance, but he smiled fondly at the couple's display of affection as he bid Jeanne an apology for the trouble he caused tonight, and a polite goodnight. It was pleasant to see them happily married long after they almost broke their engagement 2 years ago.
"How did you do it, Ren?"
His ex-bandmate sat next to him, handing him a can of beer. His golden irises reflected warm feelings of empathy, but something else told him that he will not tolerate his shortcomings. He knew, Ren being the only married man besides him from their group, would be the best one to seek advice from about his current situation.
The idea of a husband to husband talk made them nauseous, but they were there for each other, anyway.
"Know what? I actually have no words left. Jeanne already beat me to it." Ren began with a snicker.
"Even at the expense of self-incrimination?" Yoh joked now smirking, both remembering the past fiasco where Ren was caught up in an almost similar situation months before his wedding with Jeanne. It was only a product of a hoax, but his relationship with her dangled dangerously in a thread, that he knew they would not be where they are right now if not for their arduous efforts to save it.
"Even at the expense of self-incrimination." Ren snorted, shaking his head and raising his can of alcohol as a toast. The brunette said nothing and just took a gulp from his drink.
"Don't get me wrong. Sometimes I can still feel the effects of my past blunders up to now. It is true what they say that trust is like a mirror. Once it gets broken, there is no way to fully restore the cracks, but everyday gets better once both of you make a solid unanimous decision to keep everything together."
The drummer kept mummed while his friend spilled his words of wisdom.
"Yoh, I know I'm not in the right position to be saying this but, after going through the same ordeal, what Jeanne said was right. I know that as husbands, all we ever want to do is to be able to protect our wives and keep them happy for as much as we could…" he paused and his sincere canary eyes met emotive mahogany ones, "…but sometimes, we don't realise that the things we do to avoid harming them are the ones that end up hurting them the most. And as much as I prefer not to voice it out loudly, Jeanne and I consider you and Anna as our role models in maintaining relationships. And we'd hate to see both of you get destroyed by something like this."
"Ren…" Yoh's eyes mirrored a thousand emotions after hearing his friend's advice and revelations. Being a man of few words, it was very unusual for Ren to verbalise the amount of words he just blurted out. He must really care for him and Anna that much that he is actually putting effort into it.
A hand tapped Yoh's shoulder. "Just do the right thing, man."
. . . . . . . . . . .
It was almost eleven in the evening but the lively streets of the city indicated that the night has just begun for most of its residents.
An extremely attractive lady in a short wine red dress sat by the bar inside one of the busy establishments in the vicinity. Her waist-long blonde hair still set in wavy curls from this afternoon's look. She had her perilously exposed legs crossed elegantly as she rested in one of the high stools.
Since her arrival, about 4 men has already surrounded her desperately trying to get her attention. None received the honour, of course, not even a quick glance. They were probably too drunk to recognise her, and to be honest, it felt really good. The last thing she needed tonight was her private life being invaded by random strangers who think they know her better than herself.
She was tired. No, she was spent.
Ever since she stepped foot on the stage from her youth, ever since fame devoured their lives like a gluttonous monster, and ever since she and Yoh let their obscured emotions consume them, she became depleted.
All she needed was her best friend, her soulmate, her husband. But he got busy being cooped-up in the arms of a different woman, and the thought alone broke her spirit.
Anna blinked her blurry eyes to refocus her sight towards the half empty glass before her. She traced the rim of the crystalline object in circles as she allowed herself to be once again lost in memories.
No one answered when she announced her arrival.
Her feet brought her to the kitchen and there she found her husband, almost finished with cooking dinner. His back was facing her, attention centred onto the stove while stirring the hot soup which her senses identified as miso.
She was rarely the openly affectionate one, but her instincts led her to hugging him from the back. Her touch was meant to surprise him, but it stunned her instead to see that he did not even flinch. He only turned to her slightly and gave her a light kiss on her forehead, nothing more if not less.
"Told you there's no need to cook tonight. You know I had dinner out, right?" She broke the uncomfortable silence by initiating a conversation, but the awkwardness grew further when he stopped stirring the pot and gave her a hurt side glance.
At first, she got annoyed with him for being such in a sour mood. Although upon noticing that he was still in his work clothes which probably meant he also just arrived home not long ago and has not eaten yet, she mentally slapped herself for her selfishness and insensitivity.
"Okay, stop. Let me finish cooking." She feverishly released him from her embrace, grabbed the nearby apron and looped it around her neck only to be stopped by Yoh motioning to hold her wrist.
"It's okay. You go ahead and rest. I'll follow shortly after grabbing a quick bite." His response was obviously jaded. He gently released her away from him. It hurt so bad to see him fake a smile.
They both joined each other for breakfast.
Albeit it has become rare for them to enjoy such a privilege lately, it didn't prevent her from enjoying her husband's company. On the contrary, her good mood could only last for a good ten minutes after scrolling through her mobile. Multiple articles about Yoh and Tamao flooded her social media.
She rolled her eyes and asked innocently, "how's the project going with the new artist?" She took a bite of the sliced apple from her fork as an attempt to hide her annoyance.
Oh please. She can't even say the woman's name.
Yoh's hand reached for the plate of peeled oranges in front of them then stuffed himself a mouthful, not even prying his eyes away from his phone. It was fun to watch his childishness early in the morning if not only for one simple detail: how his lips curved subconsciously into a smile upon the mention of his project and his colleague.
"It's good. It's kinda fun." He replied with nonchalance.
He continued his immersion on his device. Rhythmic vibrations sounded indicating that he was texting with someone. It was intriguing to witness him so energetic at the start of the day, but she was never the type of wife who constantly had to see every move he takes, to know every person he talks to. She trusted him like that. In her mind, at least she did.
He suddenly got up from his seat and chugged his now cold cappuccino down to the last drop. He grimaced at the bitterness, but it was one of the things he needed to get accustomed to over the years.
Yoh turned to her to announce that he needed to go to work sooner than usual while he planted a kiss on her forehead. She wanted to say something. She wanted to ask for a few more minutes of his time.
She wanted to reach out; but for some reason, she could not—she would not.
"My, my. To whom do I owe the pleasure of having my dear sister-in-law visit me in my kingdom at this time of the night?"
Anna heard a voice which suspended her trip to memory lane. She knew the person who spoke all too well and rolled her eyes, not even making the effort to steer her gaze from her drink.
That's right. She almost forgot. The man owned the place.
She saw his figure settle down next to her from her visual periphery, but her stubbornness refused to acknowledge his presence. Anna bit her lower lip to prevent a snort when she heard two females walk past, greeting the man next to her before falling into a fit of flirty giggles. She huffed after they were gone.
After quietly watching her from across the room for quite some time, Hao decided to intervene. He needed to do something. He needed to wipe that silly frown off her face.
He approached his most favourite blonde in the whole world with so much feigned enthusiasm. Of course, he knew what was going on. It was all over the news. He was planning to invite his brother for a drink one of these days just for the sake of checking on his sanity, but things have a funny way of unfolding in front of his eyes.
He waited for a few seconds before choosing to disturb her peace once again. His gaze travelled from her golden crowning glory that covered half of her face, to the lovely shadow casted by her luscious eyelashes, to her elegantly exposed shoulder blades, and down to her flawless milky thighs.
The long-haired brunette stirred his eyes to look up against the ceiling as he gulped a fair amount of saliva. He was trying to be there for her as her friend and bringing up borderline perverted thoughts about his brother's wife were surely the last thing he needed to offer as help. He focused his attention on the drink in her hand instead.
"Surely, you didn't come visit my bar just to drink… lemon lime bitters."
For a moment he was relieved to see her lips curl accompanied by a light chuckle. But everything changed within just a split second as he watched her bow her head as tears unceasingly dropped from her pained eyes. His eyes widened at her sudden breakdown, and he opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.
He hesitated for a bit. He wasn't sure if he was ready for what was about to come. He desperately scanned his head for any smart ideas, but she has already beat him to it.
It was when she angled her posture to face him. It was when he saw her sorrowful honey eyes that were already brimming with tears. It was when he noticed how her once silent sobs turned into uncontrollable series of whimpers.
From then on, the great Asakura Hao's heart got shattered by the mere vision right before his eyes, and all his instincts ever whispered was to pull the special woman next to him in a tight embrace.
. . . . . . . . . . .
A/N: Please believe me when I say I almost died with the idea of writing Yoh playing the drums. I don't know, maybe I'm just not used to writing song fics, with this being my first one ever. I mean, we can totally see how cool he is behind the percussions in those SK rock band merch images but, this is also an adult version, so writing about it including a memory of his first meeting with Anna (also within the anime remake's Osorezan Revoir month) almost killed me. Hope I did it a bit of justice somehow.
And of course, the appearance of our beloved flirty-er twin means… more complications, right? Stay tuned for the finale. *winks*
Song lyrics used:
Hallelujah – by Leonard Cohen (covered version by Haley Williams)
What I've Done - by Linkin Park
Italics represent multimedia content/ thoughts of characters/ flashbacks/ foreign words. I hope I did not make it too confusing.
Again, show me sum luv? Or hate. Whatever works.: 3