I ran my fingers on the picture of my fiancé. On his sheepish grin, on his unruly hair, on every little detail of him that I wanted to remember and I wanted to keep.

I could feel tears welling up my eyes as I remembered what happened that fateful afternoon. Yoh and I were about to go home from fishing when the horse suddenly heard a gunshot. It suddenly went hysterical, throwing both of us in the ground. Then everything happened as if in slow-motion. The horse was about to step on me mercilessly, and I couldn't move – my feet won't budge and I couldn't even feel them anymore.

But Yoh suddenly crouched in front of me, using his back to protect me from the hooves. I watched in horror as the horse pounded on him repeatedly, but he didn't move away. I could remember how he tried to grin weakly seconds before the horse gave up on trying to pound him and ran away to the  opposite direction.

"Why didn't you move away?" I asked, voice breaking. He still was on top of me, and his chest was heaving heavily, as if it was taking him Herculean effort to even breathe.

He grinned forcibly. "N-No one can hurt my Anna…" He suddenly coughed out blood, sending me into panic.

"Yoh!!!" I wanted to get up and bring him to the nearest doctor. I tried to stand up, but only felt severe pain. A tear streaked from my eye out of frustration.

"D-Don't," he begged, wiping the lone tear from my eye with his finger. "I don't want to see you cry, ever."

"We have to bring you to the doctor." I looked around desperately, but no one seemed to pass this way at this time of the day. I turned to Yoh, who was lying on the ground, his attempts to breathe more painfully audible now. "Yoh, hang on. I-I'll call for help."

His half-closed lids smiled at me weakly before he coughed. Blood tainted his hands. Dread filled me. I cupped my hands. "Tasukete!!! Tasukete!!!" My voice was carried by the wind, but not far enough for anyone to hear. I trembled in fear. If nobody hears us within an hour, Yoh will…Yoh will…

I turned to him again and gasped when I saw his eyelids drooping. I crawled towards him shakily. "Yoh…Yoh, no. D-Don't sleep."

"I-I'm so sorry. I-I know I would do anything for you," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I would do anything Anna says, Dakedo…I feel so tired…and sleepy…"

"Y-Yoh, shut up! Save your strength! Help is coming."

He lifted his hand with what seemed to me his last ounce of strength. I immediately took it and smoothed it against my cheek. "Don't you dare go to sleep, Yoh Asakura," I threatened. "I'll never forgive you."

"Anna, do you know how much I love you?" he asked softly.

A tear streaked down my face. "Enough to watch over me and love me all my life."

He grinned. "And when I go, I hope he'll take care of you too."

"H-He?"

"I'm sorry to let you down. Can't fight off sleep…I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me someday." His eyes closed with finality, and the hand I was holding against my cheek turned cold.

I returned to the present when I heard a knock on the door. Must be Kino-sensei.

"Come in," I said, trying to hide the shakiness of my voice.

To my utter dismay, it was Asakura Hao standing by the doorway, an annoying smile on his face. His eyes went to my swollen eyes, then at the picture frame I was holding. He shut the door behind him and sat on the edge of my bed so we would be face-to-face.

My first instinct was to turn my back on him and ignore him, but with the twinkle in his eye, I knew he was expecting me to do that. I decided to do the opposite. I matched gaze with him, keeping my face carefully blank. "What are you doing here, Asakura Hao?"

He chuckled. "Are you always like that, Anna? You let people into your room then you ask them what they're doing in there?"

"State your business and leave," I said coldly.

"Well, it was a warmer welcome than I expected." He shrugged. "Let's see…I came here to carry out my brother's wishes…to look after you." He then peered at the picture frame I was holding. "Yoh is really photogenic, eh? I wonder why you're crying when he looks good in that pose."

I was aware of the anger rapidly building within me. I resisted the urge to shout at his face, knowing that losing my temper would only delight him. I hugged the picture close to my heart. "I didn't expect Master Mikihisa to let you in the house through the front door."

"Ah no. Actually, I came in through the bathroom," kidded Hao. Upon seeing the horrified look on my face, he laughed. "Ah, you take things too seriously. Mikihisa is my father too, you know. I'm an Asakura, so I have every right to walk on whatever grounds I wish to do so." He cupped his face, looking at me amusedly. "By the look on your face, you were expecting me to come from the window, with all the glory of my furyoku."

"Plausible," I said sarcastically.

Hao grinned. "Don't worry. I'll do that next time, if it would entertain you."

I crossed my arms. "Thank you for keeping me company. Now leave."

He frowned. "Why, lady! That's rude! I've barely stayed here for more than two minutes."

"All Yoh asked you to do is to check on me. I'm still alive, so what else do you want?" I snapped.

"You call yourself alive in that case?" he asked, his eyes going up and down my body. "You look like one of the cast of Resident Evil…bit by the T Virus-"

His words were stopped by my slap.

"Who do you think you are, meddling with my life?" I yelled. "Do you expect me to be all cheerful like you even if I just lost someone very dear to me?"

Hao carefully turned his gaze back to me, his smile gone. "Does Yoh always let you get away with those nasty slaps?" he asked quietly.

"Of course," I said.

He stood up and crouched towards me. "Listen to me, dear sis-in-law. If you think you can do that again to me, I swear I'll punish you. I have a lot of ways to do that." His voice lowered dangerously. "I won't hesitate to do that, because I'm not a very patient person." He got up and went back to his previous seat, not taking his eyes off my stunned face. "For this time, I will let that one pass. I know your mind is still not clear and you are mourning. However, next time I may not be so lenient…"

"Damn you!" I hissed. "Does Yoh know what kind of a person did he ask to look after me?"

"Why are you asking me? I'm not Yoh." He tipped his finger on his chin. "Wait…he's originally part of my soul too, so…I think I'm sort of like Yoh, but I'm not really him." He shrugged, his face composed once again into a smile. "Really now, Anna, instead of complaining, why don't we just try to get along? I mean, I know you care deeply for my brother, and I admire him too. Just for his peace of mind wherever he is now, maybe we should call it a truce."

"That's foul," I said quietly. "Using your brother for your blackmails."

He chuckled. "Smart girl. I think I'm starting to be a little afraid of you already." He held out his hand. "So what do you say? Let's just try to not get on each other's nerves, then maybe we could work something out. I hate to disappoint Yoh."

I looked at his hand, then at my hand too. I then reached out and touched his hand. He smiled and bowed to kiss it. "Good." He smiled. "Now I want you to try not thinking of the accident. Try to remember instead the times that you were happy with my brother."

"Easier said than done."

"I agree, but it's worth a try. Letting go will help you recover."

"You have some nerve talking as if you are an expert in human feelings. You don't have the slightest idea about human nature."

Hao grinned. "Got me there, but not exactly. My brother has taught me a bit about them, how they work. And then some." He got up and stretched. "I think my time is up." He turned to the door, and I followed his gaze. Yohmei and Kino were standing guard.

Hao smiled at me. "Eat up, Anna. Gather your strength, then I'll take you out."

"Whoever said that I'm coming with you anyway?" I asked.

"Anna, you have more furyoku than I do. If you wish, you can throw me over Mt. Fuji and I won't be able to resist." He saluted and left, surprisingly, using the door. Hao acting civilized? I shook my head, then looked at the picture of Yoh.

"You may be twins, but you are as different as day and night," I told the picture. "You are the day and he is the night." I laughed humorlessly. "Too bad the sun set. Yoh, what were you thinking anyway? With you, I am pretty certain about my feelings. I know that what I see in the light is what I really get. On the other hand, he is unfathomable; in his darkness I am not really sure of what he's thinking of." I shook my head. "But I'll be strong, Yoh. I am Kyouyama Anna, bride of the shaman king. I can make the underworld collapse with my will, that's what you told me before, remember?" I kissed the picture lovingly. "I will make you proud of me. I'll survive."

tsuzuku