"Anna." The young girl trembled. Kino smiled at her. "Don't shake like that, child, I have good news for you." Anna put her hands behind her back, hiding the dirt jammed under her bitten-off fingernails. She'd buried Nii'san under the cherry tree in the courtyard only moments before Kino had called her in. She hoped she wasn't in trouble. "Anna, my son Mikihisa and his wife Keiko have chosen you to marry their son Yoh."
Anna took a step back. "Marry? Ew!" she exclaimed. Then she clapped a hand over her mouth.
"You are quite young, but it is best you are prepared well in advance," Kino said. "You will marry Yoh sometime after you turn sixteen, but you will not be allowed to meet him until you are ten years of age. However, you will be the one responsible for training Yoh to become Shaman King."
Anna nodded gravely. It was a large duty for such a small seven-year- old. "May I- may I see what he looks like?" she asked timidly.
"I knew you were going to ask me that," Kino said. She pulled out a small photograph. "This will be yours now."
Quaking, Anna willed herself to look at the picture. Would he be big and scowly, like Noshi? Or small and weak, like she was?
A boy around her age grinned up at her in the photo. He had big, sparkling dark eyes and dark hair that hung in his face. A pair of oversized orange headphones poked out from behind his ears. Anna couldn't help but smile back at him. He was beautiful.
When Anna crawled into her futon that night, she missed Nii'san's chirping warmth beside her, but the pain of the void was lessened as she slept with the picture of her future husband under her pillow.

*****

Anna bowed before her sensei. Every day she had to report to Kino for itako training, attending only the basic classes with the other shamans. It was the only part of the day she enjoyed, for even though Kino was a strict teacher, she didn't hit her or insult her like the other shamans her age. But today, Kino's eyes, shaded behind her glasses, were cold and stern.
"Anna, you have been in training to be an itako for five years now," she said, her voice seeming deeper and more gravelly than usual. "You are not a child any longer, and it is time you put away your childhood. In only a few years you will be married. I must prepare you for the burden of becoming the Shaman Queen."
"What must I do?" Anna asked her.
"You will no longer sleep in the dormitory with the other children. You will have a room of your own, upstairs near mine," Kino began. "You will be under my tutelage constantly. You will learn how to run a household. And you will give up your spirit."
"Lydda?" Anna whispered. "I have to give up Lydda?"
"I'm sorry, child," Kino said. "Itakos cannot have guardian spirits of their own. You belong to all the spirits, and all the spirits belong to you. It is time for you to send Lydda on her way."
Anna fell on her knees. "Oh, please don't, Kino-sama!" she sobbed. "Please, please, please! I beg of you! Don't take Lydda away from me! She is all I have left. I have nothing!"
For a long while she knelt at Kino's feet, crying quietly, begging. Then Kino's old hands stroked her hair. "Oh, child," she sighed. "I am sorry. But Lydda must go. And you must send her yourself."
Anna pushed herself to her feet. "Mayn't I have one last night?" she begged.
"I will allow you that much," Kino said. "Tomorrow you must let her go. And don't forget that you are one of the students chosen for the training journey in the mountains. Tomorrow you will send Lydda away, and then your training to become the Shaman Queen will begin."

*****

Anna shifted the pack on her back. She could feel blisters forming between her shoulder blades. In front of her the other students were making their way easily through the rocky mountain path. Nearly a head shorter and a year younger than the youngest pupil, she struggled to keep up. The gravel and snow shifted beneath her feet, sending her sprawling more than once.
"Hey, scrawny, move it." Mariko kicked Anna in the ankle. "You're holding everyone up." Anna gritted her teeth and kept climbing, wishing she could ask Lydda to blow Mariko off the mountainside. But Lydda was gone, gone forever. Anna dashed at her tears with her knuckles and tried to clear her mind of all her thoughts.
The camp was near the peak of the mountain, set against a small ridge, away from the wind. Kino sequestered herself in a small cabin, but the pupils set up their own sleeping quarters with tents and sleeping bags. Anna pounded the stakes into the frozen earth, wishing she could finish and climb into her warm bed.
"Scrawny-chan." It was Mariko again. "Scrawny-chan, we took a vote. You'll be going for the firewood."
"Kino-san said we each got our own firewood," Anna said, her teeth clenched.
"Screw Kino-san. Go get the wood." Mariko cuffed the side of her head. With no other choice, Anna buttoned her coat and traipsed further in the woods.
Her shoes slushed through the thick snow. Huge banks were heaped around her, glowing purple and blue in the nighttime shadows. She shivered. The trees were stretching out their bony arms, and she wasn't sure if they were reaching for their creator or for her. Her frozen fingers fumbled for pieces of wood, twigs, anything burnable and dry. Anna was shaking now, the cold wet snow filling her shoes and the falling snow wetting her hair. At least now she couldn't hear the voices.the voices that were everywhere.
That was why her aunt had hauled her up the mountainside when she was three years old. That was why she'd been abandoned, like a kitten that was free to any home. That was why no one loved her.
Her first year or so at the training hall was hell. She could hear everything that they thought, everything that was in their hearts. Hate, love, fear, joy, she heard it all, the voices pouring into her ears until it was all she could do to keep from clamping her hands over her ears and screaming. It terrified her aunt and uncle. That was the night she remembered, when her aunt and uncle had decided to send her away. She was a freak. Oh, they'd never said it to her. But she heard their hearts. The words had been burned on her mind.
She's not right in the head.
At least her poor parents will never know.
What if she goes insane? What if she tries to hurt someone?
We can't let her near those boys. It could be dangerous for them.
The mountains in Aomori are far enough away. She will be safer there.
Memories racing through her mind, Anna stumbled through the snow. The snow was so pretty, sparkly and shiny, pink like icing on a birthday cupcake.but if it was a birthday, where were the candles? Candles like fire.a big candle, that would warm her up. That's what she wanted. Big big candles. She'd be warm then, but the pretty pink snow would melt.it wasn't pretty, it wasn't pink, it was red, it was red, it was blood red like the blood that spilled when the shaman boy killed her parents.scary boy, with scary eyes. He was scary. She was scared. Why was she scared? She had Lydda. No, Lydda was gone. Gone gone gone.gone someplace warm. Why couldn't she be someplace warm? Warm.if she found enough wood, they'd let her get warm.but she couldn't move anymore.
Anna stumbled into camp. "I brought the wood," she mumbled. And then she fell.

*****

She was very sick, the doctor had said, sick enough for Kino to consider taking her to the hospital. Anna had stayed in bed for three days so far, awaking only to cough up the stuff blocking her lungs and staying in a heavy sleep for the rest of the time. Her fever continued to spike. No one visited her except the doctor and occasionally Kino. No one stayed with her.
Anna awoke on the fourth day, finally coherent. "How are you, child?" Kino asked. Anna shook her head; her throat was too sore to say anything. Kino patted her hot little hand. "The doctor thinks you'll be well enough to get back to your lessons in a week or so. And for the next month, you'll not be allowed to go outside. It will be your punishment for trying to run away. You were very foolish, Anna. It was a childish and stupid thing to do, running away because you couldn't have your own way. Hopefully this will teach you to be more obedient." With a firm smash, Kino shut the door and left.
Anna turned her head to look dully out the window. Punishment? Her life seemed like a punishment. Mariko and Noshi and the others.they were all right. She was nothing. But someday she'd prove them wrong. She'd become Shaman Queen, wife of the most influential shaman in the world, and then she'd laugh when they licked her shoes and begged for favors. She closed her eyes, maliciously happy dreams dancing in her head.

*****

She sat alone in the corner of the hall, studying one of her books. It was a thick one, about American history. That subject had always fascinated her. The Americans were always obsessed with freedom, a topic she was constantly thinking about.
A big hand jerked the book out of her small hands. Anna glowered. That was usually enough to scare her tormentors away. But it was Noshi.
"Reading again, Anna-chan?" he asked sweetly.
"Die," Anna said, yanking the book away. Noshi only held it above her head and grinned. He'd grown taller and more muscular since they were first- years. Now, although he was still in her class, he was already fourteen- rather disgraceful, now that she thought about it. "Give it back," she insisted. She jumped up to retrieve it and her hands inadvertently brushed against his fingers.
Now there was something else in Noshi's eyes. Something that scared her. "Come on, Anna-chan," he smiled.
"Don't call me Anna-chan," she muttered. His eyes raked over her small body. The fear came back tenfold.
Noshi tangled his fingers in Anna's long hair. "You're a pretty thing," he purred, stroking his fingers along her neck. "Come on, Anna. Pretty little girl." And suddenly she was no longer against the wall but on the floor, with Noshi pressing his body on top of her. His hands invaded her clothes.
"Stop!" Anna screamed. "No! Don't!"
"Why should I?" Noshi grunted. His hands were even more insistent now.
Anna squeezed her eyes shut and summoned the dead leaves of the plant in the hall. The shikigamis materialized and she commanded them to strike Noshi. It bought her enough time to crawl to her feet and disappear into her little bedroom. Noshi writhed in pain, shouting curses at her.
Anna locked the door securely behind her. It had almost happened. Again. Her uncle had tried once. She hated it. The girl shivered and turned on the hot water in her bathroom, filling the bathtub. All she wanted was a hot bath, to scald off the feeling of his hands on her body.
She'd just gotten out of the bath and started towel-drying her hair when someone pounded on her door. Curious, Anna pulled on her clothes and opened the door. "Yes?" she asked.
"Kino-sama wants to see you in her office, Anna-sama," the little first-year lisped.
"I'm not Anna-sama," she tried to say, but the child ran away before she could say anything. Anna shrugged and walked down the hall to Kino's office.
Noshi was seated there in front of Kino's desk, his face scratched and bleeding, his eyes burning red. "Anna," Kino said. "Noshi has told me what happened."
Anna sagged in relief. "Good," she said. "It was-"
"I cannot believe that my own favorite student would attack another pupil unprovoked," Kino said. "I am ashamed of you, Anna Kyoyama."
"But I didn't-" Anna tried to say.
Kino shook her head. "No. You will be severely punished, Anna," she said. "Noshi, you are free to go, unless you would like to say something to my wayward disciple."
"No, Kino-sama," Noshi said, his eyes meek as his sensei fixed her eyes on him. "I am saddened that such a promising young shaman, with so much favor in your eyes, would stoop so low." His words were sweet as honey, but as he brushed past Anna, he flicked her skirt.
"Kino-san, I didn't attack him," Anna protested. "He attacked me."
Kino folded her hands. "Anna, I am sorry, but you have had a history of striking out, especially in the last few months." Anna closed her eyes. "For the next week, you will be doing all the cooking for the other students. That will be your punishment." She smiled gently at her favorite student. "It's not nearly as bad as it could be," she said.

*****

Anna squinted in pain as the knife skittered across the potato and into her finger. It was the potato number one hundred twenty-six. She knew because she counted them all. There was nothing else to do. It was the fifth day of her sentence, and she was tired of cooking. "When I'm Shaman Queen," she muttered, "I'll never cook again."
"What was that?" the cook asked.
"Nothing," Anna said. She peeled the last bit of skin off and reached for potato number one hundred twenty-seven.
It was nearly an hour and a half later before all the food was served and all the dishes washed. Anna retreated into the back garden with another book and two apples. It would work for lunch. She sat on one of the benches, bit into an apple, and read avidly. She was so deep in her book she didn't notice the footsteps behind her.
A pair of big, strong, cold hands gripped her shoulders. "Hi, Anna- chan," Noshi grinned.
"I told you not to call me Anna-chan," she griped. "And get your hands off of me. That's what got you into trouble in the first place."
"Actually, it seems to me that you were the one who got in trouble," Noshi said. "You won't try the shikigamis again. Kino-sama will be furious if you try anything again."
"Then I'll come up with something else," Anna said, getting up and tossing her apple core into the yard. "Let go of me. I have things to do."
"Not now," Noshi said, intensity in his hands. They started traveling on her body again. Anna froze. She'd been able to save herself before, but she was almost powerless now. He had pinned her against the bench, and there was nothing she could do but scream. But the garden was far from the house. No one would hear her. Anna screamed at the top of her lungs and kicked Noshi. He didn't relent. His hands pressed harder.
Then all of a sudden he stopped.
Anna yanked away from him and ran away. Then she glanced back. Noshi was frozen in fear, staring at something behind her. She turned.
It was an oni. A huge one. It snarled at Noshi. Terrified, Anna bolted, racing for the door. As soon as she stepped inside, the oni retreated to the forest. She ran for her room.
This time, Noshi did not go to Kino. And he did not come near Anna again.
Actually, no one came near Anna again.
This suited her well enough. She hated them all, anyway.