Sorry, ff.net wouldn't let me upload anything, so my not-quite-yami (if you don't know Yu-Gi-Oh, ignore the term) was gracious enough to upload it for me. Everybody say thank you to her! ^_^ I'm not perfectly happy with this chapter, but I don't have time to rewrite, but I hope you all get the gist of it anyway.
Tamao turned white and then settled on an admirable shade of pink. "I…I'm sorry…"
"You actually did it??"
The poor girl looked terribly flustered. "Did what? I'm sorry, I was going to say that I don't understand what's going on."
Yoh looked slightly relieved, but still nonplussed. "Explain, please, Ren."
"Oh, sure," sniffed Horohoro indignantly. "Ask him to explain, not me!"
Ren ignored the comment and stepped forward. "Two days ago, the neighbors said they thought they saw a pink-haired girl enter your house a little more than an hour and a half after you left. They also said she departed hurriedly shortly after."
Tamao had suddenly turned paper white.
"Around eight o'clock," continued Ren mercilessly, "you stopped by Horohoro's house, Tamao."
She nodded, still pale.
"You dropped off a basketful of, well, toys." He winced slightly, as if it should be beneath anyone his age to find toys entertaining.
"Yeah!" grinned Horohoro. "I asked her to. There was some pretty good stuff in there too."
"Among them were a baseball bat and a semi-complex building set. A Lego building set. Judging by the time, that was after Tamao stopped by Yoh and Anna's home."
Yoh scratched his head. "I'm not seeing how this is fitting together, if you'll forgive me, Ren."
The Tao boy looked as if he was feeling very superior. "Tamao knocked Anna out with the baseball bat, slashed her wrists and left shortly after. The Lego block fell out of her bag when she stopped by. It also makes sense to have the bowl to catch the blood because Tamao helps with the housecleaning sometimes. She would want to avoid making a mess as much as possible."
Yoh looked stricken. Slowly, he stood and walked toward Tamao, who was trembling like a child's paper kite on a windy day. "He's accusing you of attempted murder, Tamao-chan," he said softly. "I want to hear you talk."
Reluctantly, she met his gaze. A dead Anna would have removed a major obstacle to the young shaman's heart, she knew, but thoughts like those frightened her when they appeared in her head. "Is she dead?" asked Tamao, carefully keeping her voice neutral.
"No," said Yoh. "Anna will be fine."
Relief washed visibly over Tamao's features. "I…I was afraid…"
"But did you try to kill Anna or not?" interrupted Horohoro.
Tamao shook her head. "No, I didn't. I could have told you that before if you had asked directly."
"Investigations require detailed interrogations," said Ren defensively.
"I'd like more explanation, though," said Yoh. "I don't understand how the evidence can match up yet have such inconclusive results."
Tamao nodded. "I stopped by to see if Anna wanted help with anything before I dropped off Horohoro's stuff. I found her unconscious on the kitchen floor, and…I guess the blood scared me. I dropped my bag, and I must have dropped the Lego piece then." She looked at the faces around her, a sorrowful guilt on her own countenance. "I…I panicked and ran away. I know I should've called for help or something, but I was just too upset. I…" Her large eyes filled with tears "I'm so sorry, Yoh-san! I shouldn't have run! Anna-san would call me a coward and I…" She dissolved completely. All three boys felt decidedly uncomfortable in the presence of the weeping girl, and Horohoro put an awkward arm around her shoulders.
"It's okay," said Yoh gently. "I got help for her, and she's doing well. Everything's gonna be all right, Tamao-chan."
The young girl wiped her eyes. "I wanted to see if she was okay, but I felt bad for not…"
"Don't worry," said Horohoro. "We understand."
"What I'm wondering," put in Ren, his golden eyes still narrow, "is how those weird prints fit in."
"What prints?" asked Tamao with a slight hiccup as her crying subsided.
Ren pulled the photos he had taken out of his pocket. He had had them developed at a one-hour-photo place while he and Horohoro had questioned the neighbors. Tamao studied the crescent-shaped prints and then handed the photos back to Ren. "I think those are mine."
"Um…how?"
"I stepped in the blood by accident, just my toes," she said. "I wiped it off as soon as I realized with my handkerchief, but I wasn't in the mindset to do a thorough job…"
"I get it," said Horohoro. "You must have missed some around the edge of your big toe or something, leaving rounded prints when you left."
She nodded.
"Well," said Ren, raising an eyebrow. "That wasn't exactly the answer I was expecting…but I guess it works…" He sighed dejectedly. "But now there's no unexplained clues left to follow. I don't know how we'll find out who's guilty!"
The door burst open suddenly, causing the group of four to turn. Lyserg was standing in the doorway, quite out of breath. "The reviewers are right!" he gasped out.
"Reviewers?" questioned Yoh.
"What's a reviewer?" asked Horohoro.
"What are you talking about?" demanded Ren.
"Never mind," said Lyserg, "but they say it was Hao that tried to kill Anna!"
Silence.
"Have they been spying on us?" asked Ren, his eyes darting about in sudden paranoia.
"But Hao wanted Anna," said Yoh.
"You're just anti-Hao all around," said Horohoro, obviously unimpressed.
Tamao didn't really have anything to say.
"But it really fits!" exclaimed Lyserg. "He wanted Anna, but he couldn't have her because of Yoh. So he tried to kill her!"
"I get it," said Ren, "the classic if-I-can't-have-her-no-one-can approach."
"Right. And, the Lego block definitely points to Hao."
"But we already cleared tha – wait a minute…how did you know about the Lego block?"
"The reviewers made mention of that too."
"They have been spying on us!" exclaimed Ren, pulling out his glaive.
"Ah!" cried Lyserg suddenly, "maybe they're associated with Hao, 'cause he can have
Opacho spy on people!"
"But they're accusing Hao."
"Oh. Right."
Anna, listening unseen from the top of the stairs, turned away and glided through the shadows to her darkened room. Sitting in the middle of the floor, she drew her knees up to her chest and watched a faint light stream in where she had left the door ajar. How could she tell them now?
She closed her eyes, the blurred memories rushing unbidden through her head.
She recalled a feeling of emptiness, with nothing left to live for. The knife had been on an impulse, an outlet of escape at the apex of depression. Watching the blood had been frighteningly satisfying as she leaned on the low table and held her wrists over the bowl. And why? Anna really didn't think anyone cared. What with her cold personality and ruthless actions, how could they?
And then something had happened that she hadn't planned. Just as the world was beginning to fade and swirl, she heard the front door open and close. Her first thought was that Yoh had come home too early, or that she had misjudged the timing. She lurched to her feet, barely noticing as she accidentally swept the blood-filled bowl to the floor. But it was too late for her to stand; her legs betrayed her, weakened by blood loss, and she fell. A sudden pain shot through her head as it connected with the corner of the table, an instant before she met the floor. As her vision faded, she heard footsteps approaching. They stopped and someone – Tamao? – gasped in surprise and horror, but Anna knew no more.
She had awoken in the hospital with her wrists on fire despite their soft bandages. What hurt more, though, was the incredible sense of failure. How could she, Kyouyama Anna, fail at something as simple as suicide? Perhaps it was better to let them all think it was Hao's fault; it would hurt Yoh to no end to find out she had wanted to die…perhaps even more than it hurt her to know she could not.
The beam of light from the door grew wider and then was blocked almost completely. She looked up to see Yoh silhouetted in the doorway, his usually carefree face gentle with worry. "Anna?"
She turned away, her bandaged hands drooping uselessly at her sides.
"You heard everything, didn't you?"
She nodded slowly.
"Were we right? Was it Hao?"
Silence.
He sighed. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me anything. We'll protect you, you know," he said gently, putting a hand on her thin shoulder.
She whirled around and slapped him for touching her, but stopped suddenly with a gasp of pain. The impact had sent ripples of pain up her injured arm, and she drew back, cradling it against her body, willing the throbbing to subside.
"Don't do that," said Yoh gently, rubbing his cheek. "You'll hurt yourself more."
"Not that you would care," she snapped through gritted teeth.
"That's not true." He smiled softly. "You'd be surprised how many people actually do."
Downstairs, Lyserg, Ren, and Horohoro were engaged in a furious argument over reviewers and Hao and privacy policies. The Ainu stopped shouting suddenly and looked about. "Eh? Where'd Yoh go?"
The others quieted as well and glanced around. "I dunno," said Ren.
"He went upstairs," said Tamao shyly.
"Upstairs? What's he doing up there?" asked Horohoro, heading for the stairs.
"Wait!" she said suddenly, "don't go. Everything's going to be fine."
"How can you tell?" asked Ren.
"I just sort of sensed it."
Unaware of the turmoil a floor below, Yoh dared to brush the tips of his fingers through Anna's hair. She suddenly gripped his shirt collar, though he could see her face turn white at the pain the tension in her hand caused. "You're mocking me."
He shook his head slowly. "When did I ever mock you?"
Sometimes it feels like all of life mocks me. She said nothing out loud, though her head drooped forward until he could not see her eyes. Then something wet dropped onto his arm. Anna bit her lip in dismay as tear after scalding tear slid from her eyes and down her face. This was not how it was supposed to be. She was not ever supposed to cry in front of anyone, let alone Yoh.
It occurred to him that at this point, he was supposed to put his arms around her and hold her close, but that was in movies and anime, and the characters all seemed so much older. So he tolerated her forehead resting on his shoulder and put one loose arm around her in compromise. "It's okay," he whispered, not sure of what else to do.
"No, it's not," she retorted, fighting the tears.
"Then," he said thoughtfully, "we'll make it okay…together…'cause just one person can't."
Neither noticed Horohoro standing outside the door, watching silently. "Aw, man," he grumbled under his breath, "I've got to get myself a girlfriend." At that point, though, Ren came by and found him eavesdropping, so he didn't get to hear any more.
Because of Ren's intervention, no one ever found out what else Yoh said. Whatever happened, Anna recovered slowly but surely afterward, though the thin scars on her wrists never quite disappeared. Everyone knew she was back to normal when she began making Yoh train again, though he never did leave her alone at home for more than an hour.
As it was, she didn't seem to mind.
Owari.
Oh, and cookies for all my reviewers! And for anyone who read and didn't review too, just 'cause you read. ^_^
Ja!
