The first day was rough. There was no other way to describe it. Anna-
Amiko- spent the whole day sitting on the couch, her back ramrod straight
but her legs limp. People kept coming in and greeting her warmly, and she
would smile and speak politely, but then they would call her Anna. Then she
would freeze. Her eyes would snap and she would pointedly turn her head
away, ending the conversation.
They tried to talk to her. They really did. But Amiko would have none of it. Yoh was miserable. She wouldn't even talk to him, no matter what he did. For an hour or so, he just disappeared.
Tamao wandered in the backyard, a basket of laundry in her hands. To her surprise, Yoh was lying under a tree, staring up at the sky. "Yoh-san?" she ventured. "Are you all right?"
"Oh, hai," he said, sitting up hastily. "I'm fine, Tamao. Don't worry."
"You don't look all right," Tamao said. "Your eyes are all red."
"I'm fine," he insisted.
The shy girl sat down next to him. "Yoh-san, Anna will return," she said. "Our Anna. She isn't gone forever."
"It feels like it," Yoh sighed. "I went into her room at Hao's house. Do you know what he did? He created a huge story for this Amiko Kurogasa character. Photographs, scrapbooks. He even had dance trophies in there. He said she was a dancer." Yoh laughed bitterly. "He's created an entire life for her. One better...than the life she could ever have with me."
"That's not true!" Tamao suddenly exclaimed. "Yoh, Anna loves you!"
"Yeah?" he said, his voice acidic. "Then tell me why she's never told me."
Tamao flinched. "You're right," she whispered. "She's never said 'I love you'." She got up to leave, but turned around. "But then again, Yoh...neither have you."
*****
The En Inn was quiet that night- almost deathly quiet. They understood. It was close enough to a death.
Anna only picked at her food. She spoke only when spoken to. She never made eye contact.
One by one their friends made excuses to leave. Their goodbyes to Yoh were loving, their goodbyes to "Amiko" were only perfunctory. Soon the only people left in the house were Tamao, Anna, and Yoh.
"I'm tired," Anna said in a low voice. She was sitting in her wheelchair in the corner of the room, a book in her hands. "Where will I sleep tonight?"
"In your...in Anna's room," Yoh said. "I'll have to carry you, if you don't mind too much."
She shrugged. "I suppose." Yoh picked her up gently. Her body was very light, easy for him to carry down the hall and up the flight of stairs.
*****
Amiko wondered why the boy was shaking so much. Was it anger? Or sadness? She was a bit angry herself. Those people seemed nice, but not one of them remembered her name. They called her Anna. Who was this Anna girl?
The room the boy carried her to was fairly large. It was neat and clean, with the futon folded neatly in one corner. A small trunk was pushed against the far wall, and a string of sparkling blue beads was draped over the well-worn lid. The boy seemed like he was trying not to look at them. He set her down carefully in a chair.
"Yoh-san," Amiko said suddenly. "Your Anna...what is she like?"
She regretted her phrasing. The boy's face twisted in pain. "My...Anna..." he repeated softly. He shoved his hands in his pockets. "I can show you her picture, if you'd like."
"Hai," Amiko said.
Silently he went into his own room next door and came back with a small rectangular object. He thrust it in her hands unceremoniously.
Amiko studied the photograph. Four people were standing against a garden wall. She recognized most of them. The pink haired girl was seated on the ground, her face the same color of her hair, and the Chinese boy was standing next to her, scowling. On top of the wall stood a boy and a girl. The boy she recognized instantly as Yoh. His arms were wrapped tightly around the waist of a slender girl. Her body was pressed against his and her arms had just started to wrap around his neck. Amiko studied the girl carefully. She was rather pretty, with blonde hair that waved around her face and dark, long-lashed eyes.
"She was falling," Yoh reminisced softly. "Manta wanted to try out his new camera. She lost her balance and I caught her, right as he took the picture. Of course, she slapped me right after that, but...it's the only picture I have of her."
"So that is what y...Anna looks like," Amiko said. "She does look a great deal like me." Yoh nodded. "Where is she now?"
He raked his fingers through his dark hair. "I stayed late after school one day, and she walked home by herself. But she never came that night," he said.
"How sad," Amiko said. "Maybe she will come home soon."
Yoh looked at her for the first time that night, and she was shocked at the raw pain in his eyes. "I thought she had," he whispered. Then remembering himself, he stood to leave. "Goodnight," he said.
"Goodnight," she answered.
*****
Tamao was waiting for him outside Anna's room. "What's wrong?" she asked.
To her surprise, Yoh was smiling. "I have an idea," he said. "I'll need you to help, though."
"Of course," Tamao agreed readily.
"Great!" Yoh said. "Thanks, Tam-chan."
He disappeared into his own room, and Tamao belatedly realized that there were tears glistening on his cheeks.
*****
"Amiko, wake up."
The voice was soft and playful. She blinked sleepily. "Yoh-san?" she murmured.
"You don't have to use the '-san', Amiko," Yoh said cheerfully. "Time to get up. We have a big day."
"A big day doing what?" Amiko yawned. She pushed herself hard, forcing her body into a sitting position.
"We're going to the beach," Yoh said.
"But I don't have a swimsuit, and I can't swim anyway," she tried to protest.
"Oh, Anna has a swimsuit," Yoh said with a wave of his hand. "You can borrow it. And you don't have to swim."
"Will she mind if I borrow it?" Amiko asked.
"Of course not," Yoh said. "Tamao's right next door if you need any help, and I'll carry you downstairs when you're ready to go."
"Oh," Amiko said, out of excuses. "Well."
Yoh handed her the swimsuit and left, closing the door behind him. Amiko studied the suit. It was rather nice-looking, and not too revealing. There was even a cute coverup skirt that went with it. It was some doing to pull it on, but she managed. It felt pretty good to something on her own for a change. Usually Hao did it for her, or ordered Mari to. She was sitting up, breathing hard, when Yoh knocked.
"Come in," Amiko panted.
Yoh peeked in. "Hey, you're ready!" he said.
"Not quite," she countered. "I want to put my hair up, but..." She flushed in embarrassment.
"Would you like me to?" he offered.
"Hai, arigato," she said in relief. Yoh opened Anna's trunk and pulled out her hairbrush. "Oh, no. I couldn't-"
"Anna won't mind," Yoh said, already running the brush through her tangled hair. Amiko settled back. He was surprisingly good, working out the knots and tangles without yanking at her scalp. Yoh pulled her hair into a smooth ponytail at the crown of her head. "Will that be all right?" he asked.
"Hai," she said. "Thank you."
"No problem," he grinned. "You ready to go?"
She nodded, and he picked her up. And this time he wasn't shaking.
*****
"Where are they?" HoroHoro groused.
Pilika looked at him over the rims of her sunglasses. "You got crabs in your pants, or do you just have to go to the bathroom?" she asked.
"Neither, goofhead. Yoh said he was bringing Anna to the beach today. But if she doesn't come, maybe she'll never snap out of it!" HoroHoro shrieked.
"Remember, we have to call her Amiko," Jun reminded them. "Yoh-kun says he wants her to feel more comfortable with us. Maybe then she'll remember what it was like before...before her accident."
"There they are!" Ren said, pointing. "They're coming towards us."
"Ohayo, guys," Yoh grinned.
"Good morning, Yoh-kun," Jun said. "Hello, Amiko."
Anna blinked rapidly before she managed out a surprised "hello." All of the Mankin gang greeted her, calling her Amiko. It was quite shocking to her.
Yoh set her down carefully on a beach towel. "You guys go ahead and do what you want, if you'd like," he yawned. "I think I'm going to sleep for a while."
*****
Yoh watched Anna out of the corner of his eye. She was propped up by a heap of beach towels, reading avidly. Yoh sighed. Anna had no idea how cute she looked. The swimsuit was one that she'd bought sometime earlier. It was on sale for practically nothing, and even though they rarely went to the beach or pool, she bought it for "just in case." It was a red tankini, with crossed straps in the back and a white woven ribbon along the neckline of the top and the waist line of the boy shorts. Her long ponytail had started to curl in the humidity, setting little ringlets around her ears. Yoh didn't realize he was staring until Anna cleared her throat softly.
"Oh!" he exclaimed.
"You don't have to stay with me," she said. "Go have fun with your friends."
"It's all right," he said. "You can't stay here all by yourself."
"Yes, I can," she insisted. "You should not have to give up your fun because of me."
"How about we compromise?" he suggested. "I'll take you down to the water's edge, and then I'll go. Will that do?"
"Hai," she said. Yoh scooped her up agreeably and carried her to the shoreline, where he set her down in the soft, cool sand. "Have fun, Yoh- kun," she smiled.
Yoh grinned at her- a big, happy, ear-to-ear grin. "Thanks, An...Amiko," he said. He splashed through the water to join his friends.
*****
Amiko watched him for a while. He and his friends were taking turns climbing onto a big outcropping, then jumping into the water. It was hard to see from where she was sitting, but she could tell which one it was by the way they jumped. Pilika always shrieked and kicked her legs, Ren dropped straight down, HoroHoro did rather impressive bellyflops, Manta did cannonballs, and Yoh did flips. She smiled. He was rather cute. Not grown- up and handsome like Hao, but he had a sweet, youthful sort of good looks. And he had a nice chest. Amiko blinked rapidly and returned to her book, wondering where that thought came from.
She was halfway through the novel when she heard a scream. She didn't think much of it; someone was usually shrieking as they plunged into the water. But the scream came again, and again. And there was terror in the cry.
Amiko looked up to see HoroHoro dragging something to shore. She dropped the book. "HoroHoro-san!" she called. "What's wrong?"
HoroHoro clutched the body. "It's Yoh," he said. Amiko sucked in her breath as he laid Yoh's limp body on the sand. "Something hit him when he was jumping. He's not breathing!"
*****
Anna squeezed HoroHoro's arm. "Calm down," she ordered. "Lay him down flat near me." The Ainu obeyed as Anna rearranged her paralyzed legs into a more useful position.
Yoh's skin was completely blue. Anna cupped her hand around his chin and tipped his mouth open. She let her mouth match his.
HoroHoro watched, aghast, as Anna breathed into Yoh's mouth three times. The dying boy's chest rose and fell slightly. Anna forced herself upright, formed her small right hand into a fist, and pushed down hard on his diaphragm three times. She kept doing it, over and over again. Yoh's skin went from blue to white.
"Please don't die, Yoh-kun," HoroHoro heard her whisper.
Then Yoh snapped upright and vomited water. Coughing and choking, he heaved into the sand. "There, he'll be all right now," Anna said. Yoh's body was touching hers, and she began to edge away, almost nervously, as she remembered what was going on.
*****
'I can't do this. I am to be Hao's wife, not the wife of this boy!' Amiko's mind screamed. But Yoh was still coughing, his cold, wet body shaking as his hair drooped in his eyes. He looked like a little lost puppy that needed to be held.
But she still edged away.
"Where did you learn that, Amiko?" HoroHoro asked, his hand bracing his friend's arm.
Kino taught me.
Those were the first words that jumped into her head, but that was ridiculous. She didn't even know a Kino.
It was part of my training.
Training? What training? Her ballet training? Did ballet include CPR?
"I just...knew," she managed to say.
"You okay, man?" HoroHoro asked.
Yoh nodded weakly. "I think..." he wheezed.
"Your head's bleeding like crazy," HoroHoro said. "What hit you?"
"I don't know," Yoh shrugged.
*****
Mari clenched her fists. She failed. She had failed her beloved Hao- sama. Yoh was still alive. There was still a chance for Anna to remember, for her to leave Hao-sama and break his heart.
No matter. There was still time.
Author's Note: Oooh! The plot thickens!!! Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but I always thought Mari was secretly in love with Hao. That could be an interesting story...does anyone else think she looks faintly like Anna? *Keelty smacks Keitorin Asthore over the head with a frying pan.* Nevermind...owie...buicheas, Keelty... Anyway... I LOVE YOHNA!!! That's all.
They tried to talk to her. They really did. But Amiko would have none of it. Yoh was miserable. She wouldn't even talk to him, no matter what he did. For an hour or so, he just disappeared.
Tamao wandered in the backyard, a basket of laundry in her hands. To her surprise, Yoh was lying under a tree, staring up at the sky. "Yoh-san?" she ventured. "Are you all right?"
"Oh, hai," he said, sitting up hastily. "I'm fine, Tamao. Don't worry."
"You don't look all right," Tamao said. "Your eyes are all red."
"I'm fine," he insisted.
The shy girl sat down next to him. "Yoh-san, Anna will return," she said. "Our Anna. She isn't gone forever."
"It feels like it," Yoh sighed. "I went into her room at Hao's house. Do you know what he did? He created a huge story for this Amiko Kurogasa character. Photographs, scrapbooks. He even had dance trophies in there. He said she was a dancer." Yoh laughed bitterly. "He's created an entire life for her. One better...than the life she could ever have with me."
"That's not true!" Tamao suddenly exclaimed. "Yoh, Anna loves you!"
"Yeah?" he said, his voice acidic. "Then tell me why she's never told me."
Tamao flinched. "You're right," she whispered. "She's never said 'I love you'." She got up to leave, but turned around. "But then again, Yoh...neither have you."
*****
The En Inn was quiet that night- almost deathly quiet. They understood. It was close enough to a death.
Anna only picked at her food. She spoke only when spoken to. She never made eye contact.
One by one their friends made excuses to leave. Their goodbyes to Yoh were loving, their goodbyes to "Amiko" were only perfunctory. Soon the only people left in the house were Tamao, Anna, and Yoh.
"I'm tired," Anna said in a low voice. She was sitting in her wheelchair in the corner of the room, a book in her hands. "Where will I sleep tonight?"
"In your...in Anna's room," Yoh said. "I'll have to carry you, if you don't mind too much."
She shrugged. "I suppose." Yoh picked her up gently. Her body was very light, easy for him to carry down the hall and up the flight of stairs.
*****
Amiko wondered why the boy was shaking so much. Was it anger? Or sadness? She was a bit angry herself. Those people seemed nice, but not one of them remembered her name. They called her Anna. Who was this Anna girl?
The room the boy carried her to was fairly large. It was neat and clean, with the futon folded neatly in one corner. A small trunk was pushed against the far wall, and a string of sparkling blue beads was draped over the well-worn lid. The boy seemed like he was trying not to look at them. He set her down carefully in a chair.
"Yoh-san," Amiko said suddenly. "Your Anna...what is she like?"
She regretted her phrasing. The boy's face twisted in pain. "My...Anna..." he repeated softly. He shoved his hands in his pockets. "I can show you her picture, if you'd like."
"Hai," Amiko said.
Silently he went into his own room next door and came back with a small rectangular object. He thrust it in her hands unceremoniously.
Amiko studied the photograph. Four people were standing against a garden wall. She recognized most of them. The pink haired girl was seated on the ground, her face the same color of her hair, and the Chinese boy was standing next to her, scowling. On top of the wall stood a boy and a girl. The boy she recognized instantly as Yoh. His arms were wrapped tightly around the waist of a slender girl. Her body was pressed against his and her arms had just started to wrap around his neck. Amiko studied the girl carefully. She was rather pretty, with blonde hair that waved around her face and dark, long-lashed eyes.
"She was falling," Yoh reminisced softly. "Manta wanted to try out his new camera. She lost her balance and I caught her, right as he took the picture. Of course, she slapped me right after that, but...it's the only picture I have of her."
"So that is what y...Anna looks like," Amiko said. "She does look a great deal like me." Yoh nodded. "Where is she now?"
He raked his fingers through his dark hair. "I stayed late after school one day, and she walked home by herself. But she never came that night," he said.
"How sad," Amiko said. "Maybe she will come home soon."
Yoh looked at her for the first time that night, and she was shocked at the raw pain in his eyes. "I thought she had," he whispered. Then remembering himself, he stood to leave. "Goodnight," he said.
"Goodnight," she answered.
*****
Tamao was waiting for him outside Anna's room. "What's wrong?" she asked.
To her surprise, Yoh was smiling. "I have an idea," he said. "I'll need you to help, though."
"Of course," Tamao agreed readily.
"Great!" Yoh said. "Thanks, Tam-chan."
He disappeared into his own room, and Tamao belatedly realized that there were tears glistening on his cheeks.
*****
"Amiko, wake up."
The voice was soft and playful. She blinked sleepily. "Yoh-san?" she murmured.
"You don't have to use the '-san', Amiko," Yoh said cheerfully. "Time to get up. We have a big day."
"A big day doing what?" Amiko yawned. She pushed herself hard, forcing her body into a sitting position.
"We're going to the beach," Yoh said.
"But I don't have a swimsuit, and I can't swim anyway," she tried to protest.
"Oh, Anna has a swimsuit," Yoh said with a wave of his hand. "You can borrow it. And you don't have to swim."
"Will she mind if I borrow it?" Amiko asked.
"Of course not," Yoh said. "Tamao's right next door if you need any help, and I'll carry you downstairs when you're ready to go."
"Oh," Amiko said, out of excuses. "Well."
Yoh handed her the swimsuit and left, closing the door behind him. Amiko studied the suit. It was rather nice-looking, and not too revealing. There was even a cute coverup skirt that went with it. It was some doing to pull it on, but she managed. It felt pretty good to something on her own for a change. Usually Hao did it for her, or ordered Mari to. She was sitting up, breathing hard, when Yoh knocked.
"Come in," Amiko panted.
Yoh peeked in. "Hey, you're ready!" he said.
"Not quite," she countered. "I want to put my hair up, but..." She flushed in embarrassment.
"Would you like me to?" he offered.
"Hai, arigato," she said in relief. Yoh opened Anna's trunk and pulled out her hairbrush. "Oh, no. I couldn't-"
"Anna won't mind," Yoh said, already running the brush through her tangled hair. Amiko settled back. He was surprisingly good, working out the knots and tangles without yanking at her scalp. Yoh pulled her hair into a smooth ponytail at the crown of her head. "Will that be all right?" he asked.
"Hai," she said. "Thank you."
"No problem," he grinned. "You ready to go?"
She nodded, and he picked her up. And this time he wasn't shaking.
*****
"Where are they?" HoroHoro groused.
Pilika looked at him over the rims of her sunglasses. "You got crabs in your pants, or do you just have to go to the bathroom?" she asked.
"Neither, goofhead. Yoh said he was bringing Anna to the beach today. But if she doesn't come, maybe she'll never snap out of it!" HoroHoro shrieked.
"Remember, we have to call her Amiko," Jun reminded them. "Yoh-kun says he wants her to feel more comfortable with us. Maybe then she'll remember what it was like before...before her accident."
"There they are!" Ren said, pointing. "They're coming towards us."
"Ohayo, guys," Yoh grinned.
"Good morning, Yoh-kun," Jun said. "Hello, Amiko."
Anna blinked rapidly before she managed out a surprised "hello." All of the Mankin gang greeted her, calling her Amiko. It was quite shocking to her.
Yoh set her down carefully on a beach towel. "You guys go ahead and do what you want, if you'd like," he yawned. "I think I'm going to sleep for a while."
*****
Yoh watched Anna out of the corner of his eye. She was propped up by a heap of beach towels, reading avidly. Yoh sighed. Anna had no idea how cute she looked. The swimsuit was one that she'd bought sometime earlier. It was on sale for practically nothing, and even though they rarely went to the beach or pool, she bought it for "just in case." It was a red tankini, with crossed straps in the back and a white woven ribbon along the neckline of the top and the waist line of the boy shorts. Her long ponytail had started to curl in the humidity, setting little ringlets around her ears. Yoh didn't realize he was staring until Anna cleared her throat softly.
"Oh!" he exclaimed.
"You don't have to stay with me," she said. "Go have fun with your friends."
"It's all right," he said. "You can't stay here all by yourself."
"Yes, I can," she insisted. "You should not have to give up your fun because of me."
"How about we compromise?" he suggested. "I'll take you down to the water's edge, and then I'll go. Will that do?"
"Hai," she said. Yoh scooped her up agreeably and carried her to the shoreline, where he set her down in the soft, cool sand. "Have fun, Yoh- kun," she smiled.
Yoh grinned at her- a big, happy, ear-to-ear grin. "Thanks, An...Amiko," he said. He splashed through the water to join his friends.
*****
Amiko watched him for a while. He and his friends were taking turns climbing onto a big outcropping, then jumping into the water. It was hard to see from where she was sitting, but she could tell which one it was by the way they jumped. Pilika always shrieked and kicked her legs, Ren dropped straight down, HoroHoro did rather impressive bellyflops, Manta did cannonballs, and Yoh did flips. She smiled. He was rather cute. Not grown- up and handsome like Hao, but he had a sweet, youthful sort of good looks. And he had a nice chest. Amiko blinked rapidly and returned to her book, wondering where that thought came from.
She was halfway through the novel when she heard a scream. She didn't think much of it; someone was usually shrieking as they plunged into the water. But the scream came again, and again. And there was terror in the cry.
Amiko looked up to see HoroHoro dragging something to shore. She dropped the book. "HoroHoro-san!" she called. "What's wrong?"
HoroHoro clutched the body. "It's Yoh," he said. Amiko sucked in her breath as he laid Yoh's limp body on the sand. "Something hit him when he was jumping. He's not breathing!"
*****
Anna squeezed HoroHoro's arm. "Calm down," she ordered. "Lay him down flat near me." The Ainu obeyed as Anna rearranged her paralyzed legs into a more useful position.
Yoh's skin was completely blue. Anna cupped her hand around his chin and tipped his mouth open. She let her mouth match his.
HoroHoro watched, aghast, as Anna breathed into Yoh's mouth three times. The dying boy's chest rose and fell slightly. Anna forced herself upright, formed her small right hand into a fist, and pushed down hard on his diaphragm three times. She kept doing it, over and over again. Yoh's skin went from blue to white.
"Please don't die, Yoh-kun," HoroHoro heard her whisper.
Then Yoh snapped upright and vomited water. Coughing and choking, he heaved into the sand. "There, he'll be all right now," Anna said. Yoh's body was touching hers, and she began to edge away, almost nervously, as she remembered what was going on.
*****
'I can't do this. I am to be Hao's wife, not the wife of this boy!' Amiko's mind screamed. But Yoh was still coughing, his cold, wet body shaking as his hair drooped in his eyes. He looked like a little lost puppy that needed to be held.
But she still edged away.
"Where did you learn that, Amiko?" HoroHoro asked, his hand bracing his friend's arm.
Kino taught me.
Those were the first words that jumped into her head, but that was ridiculous. She didn't even know a Kino.
It was part of my training.
Training? What training? Her ballet training? Did ballet include CPR?
"I just...knew," she managed to say.
"You okay, man?" HoroHoro asked.
Yoh nodded weakly. "I think..." he wheezed.
"Your head's bleeding like crazy," HoroHoro said. "What hit you?"
"I don't know," Yoh shrugged.
*****
Mari clenched her fists. She failed. She had failed her beloved Hao- sama. Yoh was still alive. There was still a chance for Anna to remember, for her to leave Hao-sama and break his heart.
No matter. There was still time.
Author's Note: Oooh! The plot thickens!!! Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but I always thought Mari was secretly in love with Hao. That could be an interesting story...does anyone else think she looks faintly like Anna? *Keelty smacks Keitorin Asthore over the head with a frying pan.* Nevermind...owie...buicheas, Keelty... Anyway... I LOVE YOHNA!!! That's all.