I decided to have a minimum of two chapters a day. I feel this will be a long story, and I don't want to keep my adoring fans waiting. (Total: 1, and I take pride in my one reviewer! Go ahead Aya83! I'm still worshipping you!) Horo: Fans? More like enemies. Akina: With enemies like that, who needs friends? Horo: Hey, that was unfair! Akina: Just get in that story. * turns music up loud, ignoring Horo *

*_^_*_^_*_^_*_^_*_^_*_^_*_^_*_^

Anna walked to school, holding her bag in front of her. The day was overcast, the clouds heavy with rain yet to come. She sighed, dreading every step she took to the cursed building. Not only was that-that thing in her class, it said next to her!

"Hey, Anna!"

Speak of the devil.

He ran up to the blonde, smiling. The smile faded as he saw how sad she was. "Anna? What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Don't try to hide it, Anna, I can tell. What's got you so upset?" He placed a hand on her shoulder in a friendly gesture.

"It's nothing, Yoh! Now just leave me alone!" She moved from under his hand and ran the rest of the way to school. She knew it was useless, though. Yoh was a demon, for Christ's sake! He could easily just blink and be right next to her when she stopped running.

So she didn't stop. She ran right past the school, dropping her books at the gate so they wouldn't bother her. Anna knew she was being stupid. She didn't have anyone to go to. Running wasn't going to make anything easier. But she ran nonetheless.

*_^_*_^_*_^_*_^_*_^_*_^_*_^_*_^

"Hey, Manta?"

The midget looked up at the demon. "Yes?"

"Have you seen Anna? I saw her thing morning, but she ran away. I found her books by the school gate."

"I'm sorry, Yoh. Haven't seen her."

Yoh cursed under his breath. "I'm going to find her, Manta. Tell the teacher that I don't feel well."

"O-okay." Manta watched as the demon stormed out of the classroom. Lying to a teacher... Manta shivered. That was the worst punishment possible. But there had been no chance at trying to reason with Yoh. Manta shrugged. If he got caught, Manta would just say that Yoh had made him say it, then let the demon take care of his own business.

*_^_*_^_*_^_*_^_*_^_*_^_*_^_*_^

Anna knocked on the door of a homey looking house. A woman a few years older than the blonde opened the door, gasping at what she saw. "Oh, you poor dear! Come in, and we'll get you warmed up!"

She stepped into the house, and the woman ushered her to a couch. Anna sat down, totally exhausted. She had been running for three hours straight. To make it worse, the clouds had decided to release their load on top of her head. The woman gave her a fluffy pink towel, which the exterminator accepted eagerly.

"So," the woman said, handing the soaked girl a mug of hot chocolate. "Would you mind telling me why you're not in school, but sitting here soaked and tired on my couch?"

"I'm sorry. I was just stressed out about someone."

"Who could have caused such trauma?"

She shook her head. The woman probably didn't even know the demon. "Stupid Yoh..." she muttered under her breath, but of course, as fate would have it, the woman heard.

"Yoh? You couldn't be talking about Yoh Asakura, could you?"

Anna stared in surprise at the woman. "Um, yeah, I am."

The woman frowned, getting up to go into the kitchen that was just a ways away. "What has that little rascal done now? I swear, he always gets into trouble. Now he's pestering a perfectly innocent girl, why I never!"

"Um, you know Yoh (hey, that rhymes!)?"

"Oh, he's my mate's friend. Both of them, always in trouble." She giggled girlishly. "But, I guess that's what's so lovable about them!"

"Your mate?" Anna blinked, before realization hit her. She was a demon! Feeling disgusted with herself, she leaned back into the couch. "Are demons everywhere in this town?"

"Pretty much, dearie. Not as powerful as where Yoh came from, but the population is actually quite large. I'm guessing you must be that demon exterminator my mate told me about last night?"

"Depends on who your mate is."

"Ah, yes, exterminators are pretty common here. Hundreds of males could have told their mates about one, couldn't they?" She laughed. "I'm talking about Horo Horo. Does that ring a bell?"

Anna gaped at the woman. This sweet, motherly demon (ha) was a rustic, trickster's mate?

Everything is possible.

"Yes, I know Horo Horo. He never said anything about having a mate."

"Well, it's not like he can just say 'Hello, I have a mate.' That would be very odd."

Anna smiled. "I guess."

She put a tray with some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (yum. I'm hungry now) in front of Anna, which she eagerly dug into. "My name's Tamao, Anna. Now," she sat next to the blonde. "Tell me what Yoh did to you."

Anna hesitated, then spilled everything to the motherly demon. Tamao nodded, listening to her troubles. At the end, she shook her head. "You mustn't be to mad at Yoh. I guess it's been a while since he's taken an interest in a woman. I always found it strange that he went for human girls. Must be the human left in him."

"Human in him? Yoh's part human?"

Tamao put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, I talked to much again! It's a bad habit of mine. No, Yoh isn't part human."

"But you said-"

"I said nothing, Anna."

"But-" Anna stopped, then sighed. The headstrong look on Tamao's face told her she wasn't going to get anymore information out of her than what she had just said.

"Yoh used to have a mate. Did you know that, Anna?" The girl shook her head. "I remember her. It's uncanny, the way you resemble her. Maybe that's why he has such an interest in you. Ah, yes, dear Elizabeth. She was such a sweet girl. She had just started her college years, and was studying abroad in Nerima. Somehow or another, she ran into Yoh. It didn't shock her one bit to find out he was a demon. She thought it made him even better." Tamao sighed dreamily. "Horo and I were so happy for Yoh. See, Yoh had been having some troubles, you could say, and Elizabeth seemed to help him so much."

"What happened to her?"

Tamao's expression turned from dreamy to depressed. "Her apartment caught on fire. Normally, fire isn't a problem for Yoh, him being a fire demon and all, but this was some priest's holy fire, that a demon couldn't breach. It was horrible, having to listen to her dying screams. By the time the fires died down, nothing was left of her but ashes." She sighed again. "That day, a part of Yoh died along with Elizabeth. He wouldn't talk, wouldn't socialize with anyone or anything. Eventually, he got better, but sometimes he would lapse into that sad, isolated Yoh that everyone hated to see."

"Poor Yoh." Anna felt like she was on the verge of tears. "I never thought..."

"But you look so much like Elizabeth. It probably takes all of Yoh's control not to sweep you up into his arms and-"

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Tamao immediately put on a cheery mask and yelled, "Coming, coming!" She stood up from the couch. "Please excuse me, Anna. I'll be right back. Oh, my, a lot of guests today! I wonder if it's another poor girl?" She walked off.

He had a mate, Anna thought. I bet he misses her a lot.

She soon heard the sounds of voices in the foiler. One she thought she recognized. She stood, and went towards the foiler.

"Yes, Anna is here, Yoh. How about I go get her for you?"

Anna chose that time to enter the foiler (you know, speak of the devil). Yoh visibly relaxed when he saw her.

"Anna! Do you know how long I've been looking for you?"

"Why were you looking for me? I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, running away in a bad mood and skipping school is a sure sign of responsibility."

"Yoh, are you teasing me?"

He thought for a bit. "Um, yeah, I think I am."

Anna stared at him for a while, then smiled a rare smile. "You're an idiot, Yoh Asakura."

"Why, thank you! (A/N: That would be my reaction)" He puffed up proudly. "You sure choose a good house to barge into. How did you know Tamao lived here?"

"Oh, she didn't, Yoh. She didn't even know who I was!" Tamao pipped up.

"What? So you just choose a random house and said, 'Huh, this one looks good'?"

"I refuse to answer that."

Yoh laughed. "Tamao, can I have something to eat? I'm starving. Didn't have any breakfast."

"No breakfast!" Tamao switched into her mom-mode, pushing Yoh into the kitchen. "I'll fix you something to eat, don't you worry, Yoh!" She smiled at Anna. "Feel free to stay as long as you want, Anna. I love company!"

"Thank you," Anna said, going back into the living room. She heard sounds of protest from the kitchen, then a motherly arguing voice. She smiled again. "Thank you."

THE END!!!

Okay okay, I'm just kidding. Geez, you tough crowd. Horo: Uh, sorry to break it to ya, but I see no crowd. Akina: * ignoring him * the more I write this, the more I realize it's like Inuyasha. Priestess, exterminators, mates, oh, and we can't forget demons! a duh that's what inuyasha is about. Horo: You haven't said that you don't own inuyasha, so technically, people can still sue you. Akina: * gasps * oh no, you're right!!!

Please review!