I ended up being late for my first class anyway. (Just in case you guys are curious whether I made it to my class or not). This chapter will concentrate on Yoh and Anna, and just like Chapter 9, it won't have much bearing to the story, except maybe to irritate readers who want to know already what happened to the other characters where I left off.

For those who don't catch my ficcating sked, I update this fic currently in daily mode. Up to how long I can keep this up is anybody's guess.

Syao thanks the readers who spend time reading the fic. Syao loves you, so she promises to try to be more constant with her updates, and that her updates would be longer.

"A guy who looks like me is interested with Anna?" echoed Yoh, as Anna was busy meditating far away from them.

Amidamaru nodded. "Very, very sure. I think he's a shaman too, but he is very powerful."

Yoh shrugged. "If he's as powerful as you say, then I would like to meet him!" he said excitedly.

The power spirit sweatdropped. "B-But Master, I just told you that somebody is interested with Ms. Anna."

"What's wrong with that?" asked Yoh innocently. "I'm interested with Anna too."

The samurai could only slap his forehead in exasperation.

"One forty nine…one fifty." Yoh collapsed on the ground as Anna pressed the stopwatch.

"Fifteen point two seconds." Anna smiled to herself. Ever since Yoh came home from the Best Place, he was able to break his previous records in her special training.

"Good enough?" asked the future shaman king hopefully.

"Halfway decent," she said. "Tomorrow, I want you to finish those exercises within exactly fifteen seconds, or less."

"Aye, aye, Ma'am!" he saluted.

"You and the Ainu clown would also spar, just to test how much you have improved." Anna stood up. "You can now go about your own business."

"Where are you going?" he asked curiously.

"Downtown," she said. "I'm buying Kino-sensei her personal necessities."

"Can I come with you?" he asked, slipping his hands in his pocket.

She shrugged. "As long as you have the patience to wait on a shopping lady like me."

"OK!" He rushed towards the backyard of the Asakura Gates.

"H-Hey, where are you going?" she asked.

"I'll drive us there."

Soon, Anna found the familiar white horse standing in front of her regally.

"This is my horse, Labyrinth," introduced Yoh, petting the stallion. "He'll take us there."

"I-I've…"She looked at the horse, a flicker of fear in her eyes. "…never ridden on a horse before."

"No problem," said Yoh cheerfully. "I'm here!" He mounted on his horse, then offered his hand down to her.

She looked at his hand uncertainly.

"Take it," he said, grinning.

What is it in his grin that could make her agree to him immediately? Anna didn't know. She just took his hand trustingly and climbed up Labyrinth. She ended up in front of her fiancé. She accidentally looked down and saw how high she was up the ground. She could feel herself getting dizzy. "W-What if I fall?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Anna, it's ok," said Yoh soothingly. "I told you, I'm here. I won't let anything bad happen to you while you're with me."

She glanced at him behind her shoulders, and he grinned again. She looked away quickly.

He took hold of the reins and started to make the horse run. Instinctively, she inched closer to him.

Big mistake.

Now she could feel her heart race faster, and it wasn't because of the horse anymore.

"Ne, Anna? Don't be scared," he said. He slowed the horse down.

Anna opened her eyes that she realized were shut. To her surprise, they were riding leisurely around a lane shaded by cherryblossom trees.

He smiled shyly. "I thought you would like to go for the more scenic route."

She didn't reply. The simple beauty of the place amazed her. When had she last been into a place as lovely as this?

She then noticed that they would pass by a tree whose branch was just an arm's reach. When they passed by it, she held out her arm to take a flower, just as Yoh reached for it too.

Their fingers touched each other as they touched the flower, then their gazes met.

Anna swallowed nervously when she saw him smile at her. He always smiles at me like that. His smile now is no different…dakedo…

She let go of the flower first, and he pulled the flower off the branch. Carefully, he tucked it in between the silky strands of her golden hair. His finger accidentally touched her skin, and she pulled away as if she was electrocuted.

"There." Yoh beamed at her. "Anna is really pretty, eh?"

She blushed faintly, then turned her back on him. "W-We're going to the market."

He nodded. "But let's linger a little more while here, ok, Anna?"

She gave him a small nod, and watched the breeze play with the petals of the cherryblossom.

When he pulled her head gently and laid it on his chest, she didn't protest anymore. It felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Two hours later, they were in the market, shopping for the fruits Kino wanted Anna to buy. The crowd quickly made way for them when they recognized who was the boy up in the horse.

"The future shaman king," whispered one old woman to her companion fiercely.

Her companion nodded. "And that must be his bride."

"They're talking about us," said Yoh, sighing.

"If we could have just walked…" she said.

"I wanted you to feel what it's like to be up in a horse," he shrugged.

Soon, they were standing before a fruit stand. Yoh jumped down from his horse, then held out his hand to her. "Jump down," he instructed.

She gulped as she looked at the height, but she nodded anyway. She shut her eyes and jumped down, and she was caught perfectly on time by her fiancé's arms. She checked their position, and she quickly pulled away from him. "Thank you."

He placed his arms behind his head. "No problem."

After she bought the fruits needed, Yoh carried the bag of fruits for her. "Anna, can we pass by the records shop? I want to buy new CDs."

She felt her mouth twitch. "OK." She was amused that he was still asking her permission when he can simply drive them to it without her protests because he was the one controlling the reins.

As Yoh was busy looking through the records, Anna went out of the shop and noticed the nearby shop – a wedding gown shop. She looked at the display window and peered at the elegant clothes, all done in traditional white.

If she would be asked, she didn't want to wear a white gown, for in some customs, white is used for grieving. She didn't want to grieve early.

Her eyes wandered until she finally saw what she want – a pale pink off-shoulder gown with a long trail of silk. Her eyes shook. She wanted a long trail for her wedding gown too, and she wanted a beautiful little girl to hold the end of the trail for her. She wanted ringbearers dressed not in tux but in shaman outfits. She wanted flower girls dressed like nymphs, who would spread flower petals on the carpeted aisle.

Her eyes lit up as she touched the flower on her hair. Yes, she wanted cherryblossoms. And the aisle she wanted to walk on was the cherryblossom lane she and Yoh passed by awhile ago.

She could imagine the whole scene so vividly – even the processional match which would be done by a flute. Everything would be so perfect.

At the end of the aisle, her groom would be waiting.

His sheepish grin.

His unruly hair.

His walkman.

His shirt opened to reveal his chest.

He waved his hand. "Anna!"

She blinked, then went back to reality. Yoh indeed was waving at her, holding two new CDs. She sighed, then walked away from the shop. She better eat as soon as she and Yoh arrives home. Being hungry could make her think of stupid things.

"What were you looking at in the shop, Anna?" he asked, puzzled, as they rode home.

"I was looking for a kitchen sink," she said sarcastically.

"In a wedding gown shop?"

She rolled her eyes. "Figure it out, Asakura Yoh."

"We're home!" He jumped down first, then just like awhile ago, he held out his arms to catch her.

She knew already what to do. She jumped down, but unfortunately, her force came out too fast too much. When he caught her, he lost his balance and they both tumbled down the ground.

Anna lifted her head that was leaning on his chest and looked at her fiancé. "Yoh, are you ok?"

He nodded. "Y-Yeah…um…" He was fascinated by how worry quickly crossed her usually blank face. And it's because of me. She is actually worried about me!

She checked her position, then pulled away from him. "Sorry," she said, not looking at him.

Yoh rubbed his head. "I-It's ok. You're not really that heavy."

Her eyes widened, then she turned to him, eyes blazing. "So you're saying I am heavy?"

He blinked, then shook his head vehemently. "Iie!

She stood up. "I better take these to Kino-sensei."

"A-Anna!" he called.

She turned to him expectantly.

"D_Did something happen to you while I was gone?" he asked slowly.

She instantly remembered Hao, but for some reason, she shook her head in reply. "Nothing significant. Why?"

He shook his head too. "N-Nothing. I just want you to know that if you have a problem…just tell me, ok?" He inhaled shakily, then continued. "Don't keep everything to yourself. Don't bottle up your feelings; you can release all of them on me."

She smiled and nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

He nodded. "And try harder and more often to smile."

She blinked.

"It takes forty three muscles to frown, and only seventeen to smile," he said. "That, and you are so cute when you smile."

"Y-You think I'm cute?" she repeated incredulously.

He nodded. "Uh-huh. Very."

She couldn't help but smile again. "You have a flowery tongue."

"Huh?"

"Nothing." She started to walk back into the house when she remembered something. "Yoh?"

"What is it?"

"Your 50 km jog…"

"I'm going to get started on it-"

"No. You can do it tomorrow," she said. "A-And…I'll be with you…if you don't mind me riding Labyrinth again. I-It was…fun."

He nodded excitedly. "That will be great!"

She bowed and left.

"You took longer than before to buy me my stuff," remarked Kino when Anna brought in the bags.

"He toured me around," she said, not looking at  her sensei's eyes directly.

"I see." Kino nodded and smiled knowingly. "The Asakura magic has not lost its touch yet."

Tsuzuku

Hmmm… due to insistent public demand…next chapter is Hao/Anna/Yoh.