A/N: Mmm, lookie at that. I'm finally writing straight couples again. XD; I would have written a Yoh x Hao but the idea didn't work out so… I was inspired with this. Enjoy.

Dedicated to: Lucy, my awesome dorky muse, LOL. Shame on you for not liking anime!

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The clock hand struck three and Yoh perked up. His hand dropped the pencil and he visibly brightened. Looking down at his paper, he winced and then tucked it away neatly in his binder. Then he got up and stretched.

"Anna," he called out in a half whine. He received no reply and pouted. "Anna!" he called out louder, dragging out the N's. Still no reply. His eyebrows knitting into a frown, he got up and took a peek around the corner. "Anna?" he whispered. It was eerily quiet and for a Shaman to get the goose bumps was very unordinary. He took a step down the hallway. "Anna?"

"Yoh," came the dry voice of the blond. The said teen whirled around and clutched his chest.

"Anna! You scared me!"

"No, really?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "Are you done?"

"Um, well, see, that is--" Yoh stammered out.

"Yoh. It's a simple question. Are you done?"

"Ah—I'm—uh, no." Still guilt-ridden, Yoh sheepishly scratched his head as he realized he couldn't lie.

"Why aren't you working up the math?"

"Well, it'll take me a while to get to Manta's house and I promised him I'd be there at least at four," Yoh explained in a rush. He started jogging in place. "And since tomorrow's Saturday, I can finish it tomorrow. So can I go now?"

"No," she immediately replied. "Finish it."

"But remember our compromise?? You said I can do some things for myself so long as--"

"I can remember it perfectly. We had also agreed that you would always listen to me whenever it came upon your schoolwork and your training," Anna shot back and walked towards the door. "So finish."

"But Anna! The show's really impor--" the sliding door shut in his face. He sighed and sat back in his seat. He flipped the book open and slid the paper out again. Concentrating on a problem, he stuck his tongue out and tapped his pencil against the table. Why had he even considered taking so much if he wasn't going to college, anyway? It was so complicated. The phone rang and broke his thoughts. His eyes lit up as he scrambled out the door. By the time he reached for it, Anna's hand appeared out of thin air and snatched it from him.

"Yoh will be there when he finishes his problems. Don't call again," Anna said before the other person did and prepared to hang up when a scandalized voice called out her name. Both her and Yoh frowned. "What?" she immediately fired out. Yoh tried to catch a bit but Anna ended up waving him back to his prison of mathematics. Confusion ran amok in Yoh's mind. None of his friends ever wanted to talk to Anna before—they weren't even around—except Manta who didn't even talk to her that much and Yoh was certain she didn't have any guy friends apart from the group. "Who could it be?" he said out loud.

"Yoh," Anna said right behind him. For the second time today, she gave him a near heart attack.

"Gah!" he fell back. She ignored his antics and walked to look down at his paper.

"Only six left?" she mused, picking up his book.

"I'm almost done!" Yoh screeched and leapt at his paper. If she was about to add another mile to his training…

"Go," she said and snapped his book shut.

"What?" he asked, startled.

"Go to your stupid show," she said, pointing to the door. "Don't be back until another hour."

"But… I still have to finish," Yoh stated. Horror flitted his face as he realized what he said.

"Go," Anna hissed and kicked his behind. Rubbing his butt and not understanding, Yoh merely nodded and ran out. He didn't want to anger her again like last night, even though when she did, her eyes held that little spark that made her prettier than usual. On his way to Manta's house, he contemplated who most likely had called and why they called and why Anna was telling him to get out so quickly and… his mind was completely befuddled. When he finally reached the mansion of the tiny teen, he stopped at the door. For the first time in his years of knowing his friend, he can actually visit his dwelling now. Taking a deep breath, he rang the doorbell and waited.

"Hello?" came a scratchy voice. Yoh's eyes widened when he noticed the intercom. He'd always wanted one of those.

"Manta?"

"Yoh?" Manta replied, coughing a bit.

"Are you okay?" Yoh asked in concern.

"Actually, I have a sore throat and it's really contagious. Do you think we can rain check it for the show? I'm really sorry." Manta coughed out. "I tried to tell you earlier but then Anna…" he trailed off.

"It's okay," Yoh said cheerfully, putting his hands on the back of his head. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Nah," Manta said, his voice dropping out. "I'm really sorry though," he said in a near whisper.

"Just get better," Yoh said. "I'll call you tomorrow to see how you are—bye Manta!"

"Bye Yoh," Manta replied and Yoh set on his way home. He was sorely disappointed he couldn't go in but at least he caught a glimpse of the outside. He stopped at a corner and marveled at its beauty. As he thought of poor Manta's condition, he remembered earlier his friend mentioned Anna. "Wait," Yoh said out loud and scrunched up his face. If Manta claimed that he called Anna to tell Yoh he was sick, then why did Anna chase him out? It made as much sense as the math equations on his paper. His thoughts broke as a car horn honked at him. He was startled to find that he was blocking traffic. Waving an apology to the mad drivers, he sheepishly ran off the road and back home. At least he did 0.5 miles for the day. He reached home with a pant and put his shoes next to the shoe drawer. "I'm home," he called out. There was no reply. Usually at this point, Anna would say something, even if it was just a tiny sound. "Anna?" he called out. He heard voices from the living room and wandered over. "Anna?" he asked.

"I refuse to do anything," came the girl's voice. "It was your idea, you do it."

"But it involves you, too!" argued a voice back. "You have to tell him, too!" Yoh's eyes widened as he realized it was his friend, Ren. I thought he was in China, Yoh thought, ready to step out and hug his old friend.

"I told you I had was going to have nothing to do with this," Anna snapped. Yoh flinched and stopped. "I am going to stay here and let you do it."

"Anna," Ren said, strain in his voice. "Don't be so difficult. You know that Yoh doesn't care. Just do it!"

"No," Anna said, her voice turning cold. "I've had enough of this. I won't do this any more."

"But we're almost there! Just tell Yoh you need to go for a walk tonight and make him go with you!"

"And you think he won't have any suspicions? Please." Anna snorted and walked towards the door. The eavesdropping brunette panicked and dived into the next room. He pressed his ear against the wall and waited.

"Would you please suck up your pride?!" Ren bellowed. "You know how much this means to us!"

"Since when have I cared about you?"

"You know you do! And you better do this! Yoh deserves it and you know it!" Ren shouted and angrily stormed out, muttering curses in Chinese. Yoh frowned. What were they talking about?

"Lord Yoh," came a voice. Yoh yelped and fell over as Amidamaru materialized in the corner.

"Shhh!" Yoh waved his hands around, spazing out. "Anna doesn't know I'm home!" he whispered.

"Yoh?" The door opened and he looked up to see cold black eyes staring at him. "Aren't you supposed to be at your show?" she demanded as she crossed her arms.

"I—see—well, actually—um," he fumbled for the right words without actually lying to the girl. He squeaked and looked at her. Her eyebrow arched and he tried again. "See, ah, um, Manta was sick and I--" he flushed when he thought of his invasion and waved his arms around again. "Um, I came home."

"Right now?"

"Ah, no, actually, um…" he paused. Should he ask? "Anna? Uh, was there someone here earlier? I, uh, heard voices."

"I was watching TV," she said in reply. "Now finish your homework. We're going for a walk when you're done."

"Wait," Yoh said but she was out of the room again. He gave a sigh and sat down. Amidamaru floated to his side.

"Is something wrong, Lord Yoh?" his friend asked him.

"It's just that… Anna's been acting really weird all day. And Ren's back!" he said excitedly but dropped his smile. "But then he was talking about something weird with Anna and…" he stopped. "Amidamaru?" he asked in confusion.

"What is it?"

"Since when were you back?" Yoh asked. "I thought you wanted to stay at the burial grounds when Mosuke was around. Did he go back?"

"No, he--" the ghost stopped. "Ah, yes, actually, um… well, you see…" the ghost stopped again. Yoh's mouth twitched. Amidamaru as good of a liar as he was.

"Ah, forget it." Yoh said. "No one's really telling me anything, anyway," he said with a tone of detachment in his voice. He walked out as Amidamaru stared guiltily at his back.

"Lord Yoh--" Yoh shut the door behind him and sighed. He walked to the room with his math book in it and plopped down. He opened his book and stared at it. The equations still didn't make sense to him, just like Anna's behavior along with Amidamaru's. He wished Manta was here to clarify things—both in his household and in math. He stared at the numbers while his mind wandered. What could Ren have been talking about? Perhaps… he mentally listed all the possible ideas. The only solution was that Ren…

Is having an affair with Anna?! Shock crossed Yoh's face. No way! He shook his head furiously and took deep breaths to calm himself down. He had been secretly watching too many soap operas. No wonder Anna always made him go out. She always knew what was good for him, even if he hated the sore muscles it bought. There was no way she could turn on him now. She must at least like him a little to always help him out, right? Then again… the only reason she might have done so was because his grandmother told her to. His eyes glazed over as he stared at the equation again. It applied more to his and Anna's relationship rather than anything else that happened today. After all, people had their off days and his relationship with the blond was as complicated and confusing as this math problem. It just made no sense at all. Was it because of the X or the Y? The X seemed to fit. The Y just seems to be there, yet not adding up. What if the Y was taken away? The X would properly work by itself but it wasn't the same. There's just that missing piece.

Yoh swallowed. He never liked math. It was too much for his simple mind. He pushed the book away and left it there. He walked out and found the blond lying on the floor, eating an apple while the TV blared. He leaned against the doorframe and stared at her, not saying a word. He concentrated on her movements, seeing the grace she stuck in them, even if she was simply just eating. A spirit floated by her and she finished crunching on the fruit.

"Don't just stand there," Anna scolded, sitting up and stretched. She looked at him from the corner of her shoulder. "Go get a jacket or something." Yoh merely nodded and followed suite. He stuck on his windbreaker and got Anna's sweater. He waited until she came around the corner and held the sweater open. She turned around and slipped her arms through. Yoh let go as she tugged and straightened it on her. He wanted to say something and hold her, to make sure everything was alright but nothing came to mind. She turned around and looked at him funny.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked bluntly. He shook his head and she rolled her eyes. "Let's go," she said, walking to the door.

They slipped out into the cool night and walked side by side, neither saying a word. They went up and down the streets, still neither saying a word. They were reaching the lake soon and Yoh was dying to say something. When they passed another block, he snapped.

"Anna?" he asked quietly.

"What," she said, not bothering to add any question to her voice. Her voice was strained and when he looked at her, he saw the fatigue on her face.

"Anna, I was… wondering." He said carefully, watching her. "Do you think…"

"Just say it," Anna said, irritated.

"Do you think we were meant to be?"

"Excuse me?" Anna asked, stopping in her place. Yoh stopped and stared.

"I mean, do you…" Love me. He couldn't finish the sentence. He shook his head. "It's nothing." He continued his pace with his shoulders slumped.

"Yoh," Anna called out. He didn't bother to stop. Knowing her, she might say something nice to cover it up. Or at least, as nice as she could be. "Yoh," she said again, impatiently. He still didn't reply. "Yoh, you idiot. Stop walking right now and watch where you're--"

He didn't hear the rest of his sentence because he ended up hitting a trashcan and stumbling back. He heard Anna call out his name again as he fell down the hill. When he finally reached the bottom, he let out a groan.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" screamed a ton of voices. He lifted his head to look up. Lights suddenly blazed all around and Yoh stared around in amazement. In front of him was a table filled with delicious food and a stack filled with presents. An arch was formed over the table with the words "Yoh's 18!" on it. Most of all, everyone was there. Everyone, including his family, his friends, the spirits, and the ones who supported him during his fight with Hao, including the X-laws.

"How did you guys…" Yoh said softly, suddenly struck speechless.

"Are we good or what?" Horo Horo exclaimed, walking forward and thumping Yoh on the back.

"We planned this a month ago," Pirika said, walking forward and hugging him. "We all stayed at Manta's house, making calls and preparing things. I just hope you don't mind that we eat on the grass. There would have been too many chairs." Manta came from his side and tugged on Yoh's sleeve.

"Sorry we had to trick you," he said. Yoh got out of his trance and laughed.

"It's all worth the deception, mm?" he said and hugged Manta. "I really wanted to see your house, though." He turned to everyone and broke into a huge grin. "Thank you, everyone," he said shyly. "This is just so… wow."

"I know!" Horo Horo screamed. "And now that you're here—let's eat!" He ran to the table before anyone could stop him. Yoh let out a laugh and followed.

While everyone danced, Yoh sat by the lake and watched everyone happily. Ren broke away from dancing with Pirika (and not because Horo Horo was ready to ice his ass) and went over to his friend.

"Yoh," Ren acknowledged.

"Ren!" Yoh said and hugged his friend.

"Okay, stop that," the usual distant teen squirmed in the brunette's embrace, his face flushing. "Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you can take advantage of this!"

Yoh chuckled and let go. He patted the grass next to him and Ren sat down willingly. "Thank you so much for helping," Yoh said earnestly to the purple-headed Shaman.

"Hn. That was nothing." Ren grunted. "It was all very easy." He leaned back, stabling himself on his hands. "The only difficult part was convincing Anna to help—especially today when she sent you over to Manta's house." He grumbled. "Stubborn woman."

Realization dawned on Yoh and he smiled sheepishly. "Was that what you two were talking about today?"

"You heard?!"

"Just… the latter parts. I had no idea. In all honesty…" he trailed off and stared at Ren. "I thought you guys were having an affair," he said seriously. Ren's jaw dropped. He tried to say something but ended up looking like a fish. Yoh laughed and clapped a hand on Ren's shoulder. "But seeing you now, I know you have a thing for the Ainu."

"I don't have a thing for Horo Horo!" Ren shouted, his face turning scarlet.

"I was talking about Pirika!" Yoh said, his eyes popping open. "Do you--"

"Shut up, Yoh!" Ren yelled and jumped up. "You—you—don't you dare say a word to anyone!!"

Yoh stared at Ren's retreating form and then broke into a smile. "Who would have thought…" he mused.

"Thought what, Lord Yoh?" Amidamaru appeared next to him.

"Oh, it's nothing." Yoh smiled at him. "Thank you, Amidamaru."

"Whatever for?" The spirit blinked. "Oh, no, actually, I didn't do anything at all. And… that is… I'm sorry for trying to trick you." He said finally.

"It's like I told Manta, it's all worth it." Yoh said. "And besides—it doesn't matter if you did anything or not. I can finally hang out with you again."

"Maybe later," Amidamaru suddenly said, looking at his left. "For now… you just stay put." He disappeared and Yoh stared confusingly to where Amidamaru was looking at earlier. A smile touched his lips and his eyes followed the figure until she came around to sit next to him. Neither said a word and they both just stared at the dancing crowd.

"Thank you," Yoh whispered when a slow song came on.

"I didn't do anything," Anna said.

"Still," Yoh said in half argue. Silence fell upon them again. Yoh stopped staring at the crowd and turned to face her. Her eyes stayed on the same spot. "Anna?"

"Hm."

"I…" Despite knowing there was nothing between Anna and Ren, he still needed reassurance when it came to the both of them. Except he wasn't exactly sure how to ask. He thought of the past events today and his eyes lit up. All the problems made sense now. There was just one that was yet to be solved. "Anna," he said again. "In math, there's usually always an X and a Y in every problem, right?"

Anna turned around to look at him. "What are you--"

"Let me finish," Yoh said, cutting her off for the first time in his life. "If we take away the Y, then the X would still work but… well, it's different because the X needs the Y—so that the problem would always work out." He stared straight at her. "But… today, I thought that the X was going to be alone because…" He was making a fool of himself. What was he saying? It probably didn't make any sense to her.

"Don't be ridiculous." Anna scoffed and stood up. Yoh sighed and slumped. He was right. She didn't understand.

"Of course the X wouldn't be alone. The Y needs X as much as X needs Y." She said and prepared to walk off but Yoh grabbed her wrist. She let out a small cry of shock as she fell against the male.

"Thank you, Anna." Yoh said for the second time today. He buried his face into her hair when she grudgingly relaxed. Perhaps math wasn't so complicated after all.

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A/N: I hope Lucy isn't mad at me for what a horrible job I've done, even though I don't think she'll read this. Was anyone confused? I was confused at one point. XD; Um, just... ask review/email if you need clarification.

Apologies for: OOC-ness, too many repeated words (Anna, Thank you… etc.), and… everything else in general.